"We want to focus on what we can see, but this scene is just a fading beauty in this life, when sorrow steals our joy."
"Home" by downhere
Anyone I've taught will tell you that joy is permanent. That is true. However, we are not the models of consistency that we think ourselves to be, and sometimes we allow our joy to shine less in times of distress. Please make note of the truth in that: we allow it to happen. And while changes in each moment are not always permanent adjustments, the process of change is a constant that cannot be undone. We are growing every second, like it or not. Science proves that the particles in the air we breathe can change quickly, just from a different person walking into a room with cologne on. Change is real, and it exists, and anyone wasting time fighting it is missing the beauty that exists in each moment of the process.
More than that, though, there are times when one changes and changes and changes again, and then the best change happens, and one wants it to stay that way. Well, for all you luddites out there who yearn for that feeling of being comfortable in process or behaviors or patterns or places, you need to know something...
"Oh, remind us that we have not reached home."
"Home" by downhere
He has a plan for us, and it involves change until the very end. We don't know the precise details of it all, but that's okay (Jeremiah 29:11). The point is that no matter how comfortable this life becomes, we are not yet home. We have not yet reached that place of being able to relax and not remain vigilant and focused. We are not yet pulling into the proverbial driveway of our true home, which is in Heaven. Therefore, we still have further to go.
"We want to walk beyond our circumstances, but our feet run into our own advances. Would You be our way, and lead Your people on?"
"Home" by downhere
We all try that, don't we? Walking right past the obvious steps we need to take, thinking that we can skip something "just this once," only to find that we are snapped back by our own failure to not trip on our own feet. It has happened to me a multitude of times, I assure you. But the greatest part of that moment is realizing that even if we watched our feet every step, we'd still trip over them, because we're looking down at ourselves. However, if we look up and focus upon Him in trusting faith, we will know what steps to take and which way to go (Hebrews 12:2, Proverbs 3:5-6).
"Pull apart our good intentions. Break the walls of these dimensions. Paint a picture of our eternity."
"Home" by downhere
Even our best intentions and designs are not capable of reaching the level to which we strive. And it is because of our narrow-minded focus that this world is our home. We are visitors here, blessed friends, and we will one day return home. During our stay here, it is necessary to be reminded of that, and to ask the Father to rip open the walls into which we constrain ourselves. Again, please make note of that: we box ourselves into this mentality.
"Oh, remind us that we have not reached home. We have not. Remind us that we have not reached home."
"Home" by downhere
In my profession, I have the awesome privilege to witness home-going services for many, many Christians. And each time, I know that a party has begun in the true hometown of the loved one that has left. It is more encouraging to me each and every time, and I pray that the people I have the privilege to serve in my capacity are able to see Christ in me as I rejoice with them.
"And we will sing the songs of Heaven, be the chorus You have chosen. We need Your grace to echo the saints and journey on."
"Home" by downhere
He chose you. Read that again, Christian sibling: He chose YOU! He knelt down and created you, and then chose you, and sent the Spirit to call to you, and sent Christ to die for you. And so we sing His song and we tell His story. And as stated above, there is rejoicing at the time one goes to their true home in heaven... but the grace of God is needed to overcome the absence that is present. A hole or void has been left, and only God can fill it. When you think about it, each time a loved one leaves a space like that and God fills it with Himself, you grow just a little closer to being totally dependent upon Him.
"As the angels sing Your praises, let us not forget Your graces which far outweigh a world of dreams."
"Home" by downhere
I pray that you will look around today and see that this home and these places that we dwell in are all temporary. We are here to learn, and then we will graduate one day and return to the Father's house (John 14:1-6). And, like most universities, there is a matriculation fee: this one is higher than any other one, though, for it costs all that we are and all that we have and all that we know. All of that must be left behind to walk this stage and receive this diploma, and then we will finally be where we belong... we will finally be home. The question is, what will you do now that you are more aware of this?
Remember: Remind us that we have not reached home.
God bless you all!!!
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