July 14, 2006
Click! Click! Click! “There’s no place like home! There’s no place like home! There’s no place like….” Oh, wait a minute. I AM home! At least I’m in my earthly home with my family. Truth be told, there HAVE been a few journeys in my life in which I would have traded a pinky finger for a pair of ruby slippers to teleport me home again.
A few years ago, I was in a conference center outside of Santa Fe in New Mexico. While there, I got a call from my wife that one of my children was being sent to a hematology specialist in Cleveland, Ohio, for urgent tests and possible treatment. I finished my teaching session, grabbed my bags, and jumped aboard a bus to the Albuquerque airport and attempted to arrange a flight. As far as an earthly home goes, my place is with my family. While I have on occasion found myself led by the Lord to be on the road (or in the air, as the case may be), one of my first commitments to God is to be the husband and father He’d have me be.
No matter my explanation about my son’s emergency and my appeal to be allowed to go ahead and fly home, I failed to find an available flight. I was stymied and sat down feeling very frustrated and vexed. I fiercely began to pray that God would open a seat on the next available plane. Only a few moments had passed when the airline representative called me back to the counter and told me that a seat looked like it was going to be opening up. I quickly thanked God, gladly seized the opportunity (even though they charged me a penalty for changing my ticket), and gratefully boarded the plane to fly home. I flew back to Columbus, got my car, and then met my family at the hospital where we faced some difficult days together.
When I am traveling, no matter the reason for the trip or how busy I am, I long to be where I feel that I truly belong… with my family. There are occasions when getting home has been difficult such as the abovementioned trip. On another trip, I was returning from overseas and then ended up missing my connecting flight from Detroit to Columbus due to long lines in customs. After a month of working and traveling, I was so exhausted that my heart nearly burst with a longing to be home. And then a couple of years later, I learned that it isn’t necessarily a good idea to get too chummy with customs officials: they wonder if you’re trying to pull a fast one on them. “Yes, sir, it’s good to talk with you, too. And could you step over here with these officials? They’d like to search you and all your luggage. Thank you! Come again! Have a nice day!”
But no matter how difficult it might be in getting back home, finally arriving home is always a sweet and joyful experience. Seeing my loved ones’ faces and being where I really belong is always the welcomed reward for persevering in my efforts to get home.
But, of course, I’ve only spoken of my earthly home so far. I’m on a trip spiritually, too, to get home. My Father in heaven, the God Who has forgiven my sin and made a new creature of me, has booked my trip home and I’m on my way there now. Perhaps you feel such a discussion is a morbid one, but I’m not talking about death… I’m talking about life… life forever with the One Who gave His own life for me on a Cross.
Just as my earthly trips home have sometimes been difficult and/or disheartening, our “trip home” as we live out this life on earth can also be marked with moments of pain, disappointment, loss, and care. But so much more worth the time and effort than even a return trip from a far-away country is the journey on which we’ve embarked when we’ve placed our faith in Jesus Christ.
And we can’t really think such trials and tribulations are unusual circumstances for our walk of life. Others who have placed their faith in God’s salvation have already gone before us and blazed a trail across the wilderness of history with lives of trusting obedience to God’s love and perfect will. Hebrews chapter 11 describes some of these others who know well the path that we now tread: Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham for starters.
“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things (that were) promised (to them); they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country – a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them” (Hebrews 11:13-16 NIV).
Do you long for a better country than a world of disappointment and fruitlessness can offer? Are you hungering for something more than can be found in the meager promises a material life can provide? Is the temporary nature of this world’s “success stories” ringing hollow in your spiritual ears? If so, then take heart. There is a better place in store for you if you’ll trust Christ. There’s a hope that doesn’t pass away even when the world around you seems to be collapsing in upon itself when you’ve placed your faith only in Him.
“…What more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated – the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect” (Hebrews 11:32-40 NIV).
Here’s hope, southern Ohio… Jesus died for you so that you may also have an everlasting home with Him. Trust Him today. It’s time now to turn your heart towards home.
(Thom Mollohan and his family have ministered in southern Ohio the past eleven years. He is the pastor of Pathway Community Church, which meets on Sunday mornings at the Ariel Theatre. He may be reached for comments or questions by email at pastorthom@pathwaygallipolis.com).
