HOME

Every single person on this earth shares a common desire. No matter demographic, all have a common innate yearning. All long for a place called home: a place where you feel safe to be truly you, no pretense. A place filled with warmth where you can be comforted.  A place where you can both laugh and cry unreservedly.  A place where you belong.

I believe all go through a season of ache; feeling the weight and burden of our longings not being fulfilled. We don’t feel at home.

I can think of many times when I was simply hungry to belong. Whether it was at home, school, church, work, there have been several situations and places where I felt like a foreigner, seemingly alright, but truly feeling rather awkward.

Reading through the Psalms, I was struck by a particular line:

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

Israel spent hundreds of years in captivity, in bondage, away from their home, yet consistently, throughout all generations, they had a dwelling place: The LORD was their dwelling place, their Home. As I reminisce on my seasons of loneliness, seasons of not feeling a sense of belonging, I remember the sweetness of being with the Lord. I remember being safe to be completely honest with Him, no pretense. I remember feeling warmth from His Presence when He comforted me. I remember being filled with exuberant joy at times and grief at others, and being free to feel and express those emotions to their entirety. With Him, I knew what it meant to belong.

I heard a sermon once in which the preacher said that lonely people feel God’s Presence in a very special way that people who aren’t struggling with loneliness don’t feel. If this is true, could it be that loneliness is actually a blessing rather than a curse? Could it be that when God let Israel go into captivity, He was really pouring out mercy on them knowing that only as wanderers, as foreigners they will grasp the understanding that the LORD is to be their dwelling place? Could it be that God allows us to not have a real home here so that we do not get too comfortable and forget Him?  Could it be that seasons of loneliness are meant for our good, that we might experience intimacy with God in a way we otherwise would not be able to?

This gives me hope. This encourages my heart.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ hit song “Home” contains the following line: “Home is whenever I’m with you.”

I have to agree. 

Home is truly whenever I am with You, Jesus <3