Coming Home to Jesus

This is an exert from my book, Coming Home. I’ve been thinking a lot about “home” and I wanted to share this devotional with you. You can get the entire book here.

Coming home to Jesus……..Our first house as newlyweds was a little yellow house. It had three bedrooms, a super tiny kitchen, an unfinished basement, and a sweet little loft attic room. The best feature was the screened-in porch in the back. I would sit out there with my coffee and Bible almost every morning in the summer. I would breathe in the fresh air, and even as the days grew cold, I would wrap myself in my blanket and sit on the glider that belonged to my grandmother. I felt close to her as I watched my little boys climb and rock on it, just as I did as a little kid.

The yellow house also had a lamp in the front yard. One winter night it reminded me of Narnia, the White Woods, and Lucy as snow gently fell. The neighbors were kind, friendly, and so generous. I remember coming home from the hospital with our second boy, and she had made a peanut butter pie. I still have her recipe written down in her handwriting in my recipe box.

The house was perfect. It was the house I came home to after our honeymoon. It was the house that heard all of the secrets and fights that first year of marriage. It was the house I came home to as a new mom. It was the house I was able to make my own. I picked the curtains, the paint, and the pictures to hang. The house held so many memories. I remember the small master bedroom where our son Titus slept in a Pack ’N Play at the end of our bed. I remember the beautiful Precious Moments Noah’s Ark mural Jason’s aunt painted for us. I can still see the piano against the wall, the treadmill in the living room, and the toys strewn across the floor. The bench in our entryway and coat stand fit perfectly when we bought it at a discount.

So when our family began to grow, we had to face the fact that we would have to start looking for another house. We would drive around our neighborhood every so often. We loved the area and wanted to stay there. We would just look for For Sale signs every week or so. We weren’t really actively looking when we found our next house. Our friends from church lived around the corner, and when we drove the back way home one day, we saw the sign.

“Oh,” I said, “that is the perfect house!” We saw the yard, the brick, and the potential. It seemed smaller from the curb. That day I emailed our realtor, and she called her friend who had the house listed. It was in contract. We wouldn’t be able to see it. A few days later, we got a call. The current people were nervous and would probably back out. So we packed up our two boys and headed to the house a mile from where we lived. As we stepped into the living room from the front door, I knew. It was perfect. I loved it.

We got it, and that was six years ago. I can still see the moving truck, the friends, and the boys. I was a few months pregnant with our little girl when we moved into this new home. It took a while to feel like home. I wouldn’t be lying if I said I missed that little yellow house every day the first year. We would have to drive by our old house to get to the new one, so our sweet little four-year-old would comment how he wanted to “go back home.” There were days I did too. The new house felt big, empty, and so different. The flaws we overlooked at the beginning bugged me, and I just wanted my cozy yellow house again. I felt I was living in the wrong house.

Soon, though, my son and I fell in love with the brick corner house. I chose the paint, the curtains, and new furniture. It began to feel like home bit by bit. Day by day we came home to it. Now it feels sad to think about leaving this house. Home is the place we feel safe, loved, and wanted. When we went to visit some missionaries in Honduras last winter, I remember coming home. Jason said something I didn’t know I felt too. He said, “Home is where our kids are. Home is where you are.”

“Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.” Psalm 90:1

Home isn’t a place, a building, or even things. Home is a feeling of rest and security. It is a place to find shelter for your heart and soul. When I read Psalm 90:1, I realized I was living in the wrong house. My dwelling place, a place to find rest and security, was not within these brick walls. It was a place for my soul. And my soul would feel restless until it found its rest in God.

When Moses penned these words in Psalm 90 and 91, the children of Israel had refused to go to their promised home. The battle and work seemed too big, and their trust in God was too small. So God said, “No home for you here in this land.” They either were beginning their wilderness journey or finishing it. Either way, they had no home as a nation. Psalm 90 is the oldest psalm ever recorded. This song of prayer and petition to God holds truth we can abide within.

I imagine this man of God, Moses, felt defeated and utterly alone as he stood before the people. All his life, he never fit in. He was a Hebrew in Pharaoh’s house during his childhood and adolescence. During his adulthood, he spent 40 years in the desert without his family or culture. When it came time to see God’s fulfillment of so many promises, he and the people rebelled. As punishment, he would not be allowed to see the Promised Land.

Moses realized no matter where his physical body was, his soul and spirit had found a home. God was His dwelling place. In some of his last words, Moses encouraged the people to find their abode in God. Numbers records forty-two different places the Israelites camped. No matter how many houses or homes you find yourself in, good or bad, there will always be a home available for you in the Lord.

“The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms;” Deuteronomy 33:27

“Wherever they went, they were at home, at rest in him.” – Matthew Henry

What does it mean? Coming Home to Jesus?

From everlasting to everlasting, we can find a home in God as well. The God who is constant and eternal will provide a place for us to be protected and loved. A physical home can be a beautiful thing. It brings comfort and peace. Sometimes homes are filled with strife and sadness. No matter the state of your physical home, a safe place is waiting for you.

“Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.” Psalm 90:1

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“To the saints the Lord Jehovah, the self-existent God, stands instead of mansion and rooftree; he shelters, comforts, protects, preserves, and cherishes all his own.” – C.H. Spurgeon