What comes to your mind when you hear the word “home?” Is home a place where you can relax and be yourself? Is home a place where you belong? Is home a safe place where you are known and loved? Is home a place where you’re free to be yourself, where it’s okay to mess up because there’s grace? Is home a place where you experience God?
Before He left the earth, Jesus told His disciples that they’d be better off with Him being gone because He would be sending the Holy Spirit, the Counselor, to come and make His home in their hearts. The Holy Spirit would comfort them, guide them into all truth, and remind them of all that Jesus had taught them. God’s indwelling Spirit would empower them to be His loving witnesses.
The apostle Paul prayed that Christ would be more and more at home in our hearts as we live by faith and sink our identity roots deeply into the soil of God’s marvelous love. Does that mean that home is more than a place and more than a feeling? Is “home” more about a loving relationship with our Father who sent Jesus to save and to restore us and the Holy Spirit to empower us? Is “home” wherever we are with God?
What happens to our concept of “home” when it’s full of drugs, violence, neglect, abuse, or trauma? What happens when “home” is full of sickness, pain, or dysfunction? What happens when “home” feels empty and lonely because loved ones are gone? What happens when I’m living in a home but I’m not living with my family?
What happens when “home” isn’t such a good feeling? What if it stirs in me questions like, “Am I safe?” “Is there anyone here I can trust?” “Will I, or they, be here tomorrow?” “Does anyone know or care how I’m feeling and what I’m going through?” “Am I going to get hurt?” “What do I do with all of my anger, hurt, anxiety, loneliness, and memories?” What if I don’t feel a sense of safety or belonging anywhere? What if I don’t really trust anyone? What if I just believe that I have to look out for myself because I’m not sure anyone else will?
As we live in times of great uncertainty, homelessness, surrounded by threats of violence, and rumors of things getting worse, I hear the whisper of our Savior, “Come home.” I hear the invitation, “Come with all of your heavy burdens and find rest for your weary soul.” Sometimes God reminds me that He’s here and that He loves me. He’s in control. Trust him. Although I may be tempted to take control or to put my trust in people, Jesus has endless ways to get my attention and to restore me through His love.
Over time I’ve discovered that peace and feeling “at home” only happens when I surrender to the One who fully knows and loves me for who He made me to be…me. All I have to do is show up full of God’s love–by myself–and offer this house of love to anyone I encounter who needs it. I can be a safe person and a safe place wherever I am and wherever I go.
People may have doubts. They may not trust. They may test our boundaries and our love. They may push us away and pretend they don’t care. They may want everything else except a relationship with us and with the all-knowing, all-loving God. But all we have to offer is what we freely receive. A house of love.
Who will you invite into your home this week who needs to encounter a house of love?
What do you need to get rid of for you to be a house of love to someone in need?
Where do you need to go to experience a house of love, a place where you are known and loved?