Home Is Where The Heart Is (Ros' Blog)

Currently, I’m living in a sort of limbo. Having got married at the end of September, we’re spending most of our time in my husband’s house, but going back to mine some days, especially at weekends to share Sunday lunch with my eldest daughter who lives nearby. Eventually we will settle permanently in the house that was my husband’s and is now ours. 

But at present we’re having renovations and building work done – in particular a new entrance on the side of the house that will provide wheelchair access so that two of our daughters who are wheelchair users will be able to come and visit once the pandemic is over and such visits are allowed. This means all relaxing, working, cooking and eating is restricted to the spare bedroom, with boxes of food, a microwave, a kettle and a computer crammed into the room. 

All this has made me start asking myself questions about where is home. When I first moved into my house, more than 9 years ago, I had a very strong impression on the day I moved in that I wasn’t just moving in as a single woman but that God was moving in with me as my husband. As it says in Isaiah 54.5, “Your Maker is your Husband, the Lord Almighty is his name.” 

But now I have a human husband, too, and he has taken me into his home as his wife. So where is home now? And the answer to that question is, wherever my husband is. The physical location is unimportant. The thing that makes it home is the fact of being together. 

There’s a parallel with this in our relationship with God, too. Sometimes we encounter circumstances in our lives that make us feel unsettled or disorientated, and we lose that sense of being at home. It might be the onset or worsening of a disability or illness. It might be financial circumstances that cause us difficulty. It might be a fractured relationship that makes us long for reconciliation. 

God has a wonderful promise for us. In John 14. 23, Jesus says this: “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” 

If we truly love God, and set our hearts on following Him in obedience and trust, God the Father and Jesus the Son and God the Holy Spirit will come and make their home with us. No matter what external circumstances we might be facing, we can still feel we are at home, safe and secure. Because home is not a physical location, it’s being with the people whom we love and who love us. And when the one we love is God Himself, and He has come to make his home with us, we can feel at home wherever we are and whatever is happening.   

Have you experienced God’s presence at home with you in times of difficulty? We would love to hear your story if so! Why not get in touch with us at info@throughtheroof.org to share your story? 

Photo is Warm Light on a Cold Night by Tim Sackton from Somerville, MA. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.