Do you ever pause to ponder when suffering began? There was no suffering or lack of safety when our Creator spoke our world into being and called it good! When He created Adam and Eve, there was no pain, sorrow, shame, or suffering of any kind. They enjoyed an intimate, free, safe, delightful fellowship with the Lord and each other!
But then Genesis 3 happened. The world has been fallen in sin ever since, bringing the agony of our being BORN as sinners into a sin-permeated and groaning world. As suffering lingers, we can feel unworthiness or shame before God or others. We don’t always feel safe living here anymore.
Check out the verb tenses! No wonder this world feels unsafe to us! We’re homesick for our real home.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses…
This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue;
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door,
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
(“I Can’t Feel at Home Anymore,” anon., p.d.)
Emotionally safe, singing to Jesus
This can affect our singing. In my research studies of what I call singing agency, many have shared wounded feelings of shame or embarrassment about their voice. They don’t feel emotionally safe singing aloud, because they’re afraid of rejection by others, or they believe their voice is not worthy of being heard—even by the One who created it. So, they only listen.
But believers can know we’re emotionally safe with Jesus, even when He’s the only one who feels safe:
O Lord, you know I have no friend like you,
If heaven’s not my home, then Lord what will I do?
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door,
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
Or do you not realize this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is IN you? (2 Cor. 13:5 ESV, emphasis added)
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you
out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:9 ESV).
They’re all expecting me, and that’s one thing I know,
My Savior pardoned me and now I onward go;
I know He’ll take me thro’ tho’ I am weak and poor,
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
Physically safe, with Jesus, His Spirit’s enabling to “onward go” in this homesick world
In my case, living in my chronically ill and pained body doesn’t always feel safe either. Sometimes, I’m trying to do things that aren’t comfortably safe, like walking and driving!
What must I sing to “onward go” in emotional and physical safety, in this homesick world? Galatians 2:20 kinds of songs! Christ lives in me! Christ loved me! Jesus gave Himself for me! I must sing the gospel to myself and to Jesus, my safe refuge of physical safety in this increasingly homesick world.
How can we “onward go” with emotional and physical safety until He brings us home?
I had a recent time of agonizing with the Lord in the ups and downs of unsuccessful treatments, thinking maybe I should just stop trying them all. Just give up instead of “onward go.” As I prayed and studied God’s Word, He so tenderly had me put the words “chronically ill” in front of the words “body” and “me” in Scripture.
What a healing moment as I felt totally safe, in His tender compassion and abiding love for me. Praise God!
Christ lives…in my “chronically ill” body, as I live in this homesick world.
In my “chronically pained” body, in the life I now live…beloved…
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you (Jn. 15:9 ESV).
In this “chronically ill and pained” body…now and forever.
I’ll be sharing more details of this tender time soon over on Substack, specifically for my sisters in Christ who also suffer from chronic illnesses and pain. Next week, there will be more here about our solid spiritual safety in Christ, even when suffering situations mean we don’t feel emotionally or physically safe in this fallen world.
As we feel homesick for our true home, we still need to “onward go” in this temporary home. With hope in Christ.
But how?
Singing to Jesus when we feel unsafe, homesick
I’m asking our Lord to help each of us experience the treasure of singing to the One who is Himself our total and real safety, Christ in us, our beloved Savior. As we suffer, as we feel emotionally and physically unsafe, His enfolding and protective love, as we adore and exalt Him in song.
I’ve made a playlist to help us do so, with lyrics that echo His Word to us. If this would encourage you this week, sign up here, and it will come to your email. Or perhaps other resources below will help? Click for links.
To read more of Lauri’s writing, you can use her devotional Bible study lament prayer journals: Praying God’s Promises Into Suffering, or Near to God: A Devotional Bible Study of God’s Character as We Suffer, or Singing the Gospel to Job: Finding Hope in Suffering. In the Valleys of God’s Love is written for children aged 3-8, a perfect read for grandparents, parents, and children to share together, preparing them for suffering to come.
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