God, our Heavenly Home away from Home
Our Lord, in all generations
you have been our home.
heavenly home
Where you live matters. Your dwelling place can give you a sense of protection and security or can make you feel threatened and insecure.
We can feel safe in an impoverished neighborhood overseas and we can feel threatened in an upper class one in our nation of origin. And vice versa. I’ve experienced it all. So security is not about income level or what country you live in or if it’s a gated community or not.
The thing is, we have an earthly house that we call home. But especially for military and missionary folks, we quickly learned that houses on earth are temporary. As we’ve seen with the hurricanes and fires and devastation our nation has faced, we see that even “forever homes” can be gone in a moment.
And God knows this and so gently invites us to live in a heavenly and eternal home instead: “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens (2 Corinthians 5:1-3).”
at home with God
Let’s look at Psalm 91 again. Especially verse one:
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
To dwell in God’s shelter means to live there. To abide in God’s shadow means to linger, hang out, eat, sleep and repeat there. The most secure place where we can live and linger is in God’s presence, in constant communion with God.
And not just keeping God at arm’s length. Just how close do you think you have to be to someone to be in their shadow? Abiding in the shadow of God means to be tucked right under his wings, tucked right in close.
Draw near to the Lord and He will draw near to you.
The Lord gives us this gracious gift of being able to draw close to Him, such a close relationship that we feel truly at Home with Him. Truly comfortable, ourselves, fully seen and known and fully loved anyways. Home.
home away from home
When I went 17 hours away from home to college, I had my first taste of longing for home. One of my best memories that first year away was when my friend Morgan invited me over for Resurrection Day. We went to church and then had a huge meal together. I went from no family on the horizon to feeling like I had instant aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, and friends. That memory is full of sunshine and wildflowers and peace and belonging and warmth of laughter.
After that Freshman year, I had a taste of knowing how sweet it is when the Lord sets the lonely in families. And from then on, I brought my international friends home for Thanksgiving and just for fun on the weekend. After being adopted for the weekend in college, I knew how comforting it feels to be surrounded and feel at home when you’re far from it.
I know so many believers who are just begging God to come and take us all Home. But to be blunt… that’s missing the point. We’re not here for us. Rather, we’re here to bring as many people Home with us as we can. We’re here to heal the sick, comfort the brokenhearted, and bring the lonely Home.
Our Lord, in all generations
you have been our home.
God is our Home away from Home.
Selah.
Til next time… Toodle-loo, and Peace be with you.
If you long to make your Home in God, to walk in full forgiveness and in the full power of the Holy Spirit, here’s a prayer to ask Jesus to wash you clean and lead you in a new life.
If you decided to give your life to Jesus today, please let us know so we can share in your new joy! And seek out someone in your area who loves Jesus and walks in humility who can help show you the way.
