An Encouraging Word & A Weekly Devotional Book
What kid doesn’t like Rainforest Cafe? My grandson was so excited to see this amazing restaurant, with all his favorite animals, until the gorilla came to life! In his terror, one word came out of his mouth, which he repeated over and over again: “Home, home, home!”
Don’t we all long for home? As we see this world getting darker and so much to fear from the nightly news, we may feel troubled or unsafe. We long for the comforts of home.
We may look longingly back to a happier time and sweet memories of home. College kids get homesick, even servicemen and women can be heard talking with their friends about longing to go home. Remember Dorothy clicking her ruby slippers in the Wizard of Oz and repeating, “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home?” Yet, not everyone has fond memories of home. Some run away from pain, abuse, and darkness at home, which raises the ultimate question - what is “home?” Clearly, home isn’t just a physical place. The idea of home is essentially a refuge, a place to run to and be safe.
Consider Hebrews 11:8-10: “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place that he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”
Like Abraham, we know that we look forward to a home that is not here. The home we anticipate is one that is not made with human hands; it is a home whose builder and maker is God. Oh, how we look forward to our eternal home!
One of Ruth Graham’s daughters was going through a painful divorce and was afraid to tell her parents. What would they say? But Ruth Graham simply told her, “Home. Come home.”
I have learned, and am still learning, this precious lesson about home. When Lloyd and I were called to leave the comforts of our familiar surroundings in California, to say goodbye to friends and relatives, and to move to New Jersey, I learned that on earth, home is where God moves me to be. He is with me, and where He leads would always be my home.
When my mother passed away several years ago, I had to learn this lesson all over again. God reminded me that He would heal my broken heart and be my Comforter. Someone once shared a story of his own grief when his mother passed away. He found himself saying over again, “Gone! Gone! Gone!” Someone asked him, “Gone where?” He finally understood. “She’s gone home. Home.”
Colossians 3:1 instructs us to set our affections on things above, where our life is hidden in Christ. Heaven is our real home.
In a beautiful poem entitled “Hound of Heaven,” Francis Thompson expressed frustration at God “chasing after” him, to which he described the Lord’s response: “All which I took from thee I did but take, not for thy harms, but just that thou might’st seek it in My arms. All which thy child’s mistake fancies as lost, I have stored thee at home: Rise, clasp My hand, and come!”
That is our invitation. Whatever we are facing, whatever disappointments, may we grab hold of Jesus and there find ourselves safely home.
We Would See Jesus,
Karen Pulley
Taken from We Would See Jesus: Seeing Jesus Clearly in a Very Dark World, a weekly devotional that offers encouragement and refreshment through passages of Scripture, reflections, and personal stories. Available beginning Saturday, November 27th. For more information, please visit http://women.ccob.org/shop.aspx.