Isaiah 6-Empty house

I was reading Isaiah 6 this morning and realized I don't have a grasp of my uncleanness like Isaiah did but then I got to verse 11:

"Then I said, 'For how long, O Lord?'

And he answered:

'Until the cities lie ruined

and without inhabitant,

until the houses are left deserted

and the fields ruined and ravaged,

until the Lord has sent everyone far away

and the land is utterly forsaken."

I started thinking about how empty our house is appearing and what it is like to have lived in a place and then have it empty, deserted, and people taken away. I have never felt at home in any house like I have felt in this house and it grieves me leave it.

I know I have to hold this world with open hands. God seems to keep returning me to that point but it is sad to leave. To remember that I am a stranger here and this is not my home, is so essential. I have to return to longing for an eternal home and when I do the grief is not so sharp but still there.

My mind goes back to the words we have said to the kids: We have to not only think about the things/people we are leaving but what God has for us ahead of us. He is not taking away, He is giving in addition. If we had never left Clay Center, we would have never met the people of Colorado Springs. If we had never Colorado Springs, we would have never met or experienced...

It is interesting that the next chapter in Isaiah contains:

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel."

I know God is faithful. As we are packing and thinking about leaving, I keep telling Kim that I'm glad I'm doing this with her. It makes it easier to move knowing she is going with me. How much easier to know that Jesus is going with me.

Only by God's grace, Tim