Happy All Saints Day!

I read a chunk of Hebrews 11 the other day, and I reread the whole chapter today in honor of All Saints Day, and both times the same thing stuck out to me-verses 13-16

¹³These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. ¹⁴For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

Hebrews 11 is the well-known "Faith Hall of Fame." It starts going through all the heroes of faith of the Bible, but after Genesis and Exodus (the first 2 books of 66), the author stops and makes a summary, or else he'd practically have to rewrite the Bible.
If you've been following my blog for a while now, you know I contemplate about the concept of "home" a lot and kind of feel like a stranger everywhere I go. It's as if I either have 5 places to be "from" or none at all. But, I have come to the conclusion that my real home is with God. I am a stranger on this earth-this place is temporary and I will get to be with God for eternity. And that's good-because if I'm "seeking a homeland" here, I'm settling for something less-than-stellar and I'm distracting myself from focusing on what God has in store for me.
Hence, even though I feel homeless sometimes and like I don't really and truly belong anywhere, that's ok. 1) Because it's true. 2) That's how it's supposed to be. And, I learned long ago that I tend to grow a lot closer to God when I'm in difficult, uncomfortable places. And when I'm comfortable, it's all to easy to get complacent.
So, thanks be to God for His Word and for those who have gone before us in the faith and all the things we can learn from them!