Halfway House

Halfway houses are places that allow people who are coming out of incarceration, or addicts seeking sobriety, a safe place that provides monitoring and support.  They are dramatically better than a jail cell or a drug house, but no one would want to live permanently in a halfway house.  They serve as a stepping-stone to what everyone desires: a place they can call home.

Abraham is called the father of faith.  And in the book of Hebrews we are told that while he was on earth he and his family were…

…dwelling in tents

It’s not that Abraham as unable to purchase an estate, or build an elaborate mansion, or settle down in some attractive spot. Genesis 13:2 says that he “was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.”  But Abraham was content to dwell in tents because he realized that there was something greater and eternal beyond his earthly existence. 

For he looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Hebrews 11:10)

Being renewed by the hope of heaven will cause us to have a loose grip on earthly stuff.  Abraham knew that his most valuable possessions were not on earth, but in Heaven. This is what made him content to dwell in a tent. The first verse of the same chapter gives us insight…

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

The place where God brought Abraham was called “the land of promise,” not the “the promised land,” as sometimes referred.  It was also called, “a strange country.”  He did not act like he was the possessor of the land, but as a foreigner and pilgrim in it. He took no part in its politics, had nothing to do with its religion, had very little social interactions with its people, but lived by faith and found his joy trusting in the promises of God.  

Because Abraham’s heart was focused, he was not occupied with the Canaanites who were then in the land, but with the invisible God who had pledged it unto him. 

If you’re coming out of rough season in your life, or maybe you’re still in one, there’s a safe shelter under God’s care.  He’ll restore your strength and hope.  He’ll monitor your progress and provide support.  But no matter how bad things were or how good things get, you’re not going to be here permanently.  This earth is just a halfway house to heaven, a place you’ll forever call home.