“On that day I will gather you together and bring you home again. I will give you a good name, a name of distinction among all the nations of the earth. They will praise you as I restore your fortunes before their very eyes. I, the LORD, have spoken!” - Zephaniah 3:20

God promised his people, “I will gather you together and bring you home again” (Zephaniah 3:20). There is a longing for that “coming home” feeling in most of our hearts.

My husband, Stuart, and I were halfway through a two-month tour of ministry in Africa. Every four days or so, we set off for the next conference, traveling by small plane, car, truck, or even bush taxi, arriving at new compounds and having every meal with a new family. We slept in different beds, met different bugs, ate different food, and drank different water. After this experience, we felt a little different! This did not make for a particularly settled feeling.

Being an outside ear meant that we were there to do a lot of loving listening to the missionaries. They so enjoyed having someone to talk to, encouragement, new ideas from home, and often a good laugh to help them relax! Watching and listening to those missionaries, I learned that home isn’t a little box in a safe subdivision. Being settled isn’t a car in the garage, membership in a club, or even model children making model grades. Being fulfilled does not consist of a husband’s climb up the corporate ladder or paid vacations to Hawaii.

Home is the will of God, and if you are settled into his will, you will be settled into whatever way out situation you find yourself. The God of peace will see to that!

For Further Study: Zephaniah 3:1-20

Excerpted from The One Year Devotions for Women, Copyright ©2000 by Jill Briscoe. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

For more from Jill Briscoe, please visit TellingtheTruth.org.

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