Coming Home

August, September, October, and November are now strewn across the end table, torn off our large wall calendar and bearing the scribbles and colors of our resident Pebble. After spending those four months learning that tenuity is not such a bad companion for our calendars, it seems a bit of a joke to put it back up on the wall with all our appointments and plans. As Solomon once said, “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps.” Coming home after four months is nice, don’t get me wrong, but it also feels… tenuous.

Our mantra for the last few months has been, “All homes are temporary, just some are more temporary than others.” The “others” part was easy to accept – moving from one hotel to the next, knowing that eventually we’d be back in our house. Well, now we’re home. And it’s time to come to grips with the “all” part – that even this home is temporary.

In one sense, I feel a bit like Job. Like Job, we had a home, a family, possessions we treasured and enjoyed, and our faith in God. And like Job, God saw fit to take away from us a big chunk of all that. By the grace of God, no one died. I am thankful beyond words for that. But, we lost our home with all its comforts and conveniences literally overnight. If you haven’t heard the story, you can read about what happened with the fire in the kitchen.

Then, with just our family and our faith remaining, God went to work in us. He knit us closer together, forged in us greater peace and joy and grace. He taught us to be flexible, adaptable, and to look for things to be grateful for. In light of the spiritual and relational blessings we received, the material upgrades at our house were just icing on the cake… granite countertops, soft carpet, fresh paint, a working dishwasher, contemporary light fixtures, and, to top it all off, where once there had a been a stove with buttons that worked sporadically at best, there now sits a new gas oven and range.

I used to wonder about the veracity of the end of Job’s story, when God restores everything to him and it just ends sort of “happily ever after,” as if the pain and suffering never happened. Thought I’m still a little dubious about how it would be to lose ten kids and then get ten more, I do read the story through different eyes.

At the end of the book of Job, the narrator writes, “After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. …The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part” (Job 42:10, 12). In regards to “restoring fortunes,” I’ve seen firsthand now how God is capable of doing away with the old and providing something new when it would be completely impossible through my own efforts and resources. I still marvel at the interior of our house when I think of how much forbearance was required of me when dealing with the oven or the buzzing fluorescent lights, and compare it with the simplicity and beauty we now enjoy.

The Scripture also says that the latter part of Job’s life was “more blessed” than the former part. Job was already considered a righteous man, but certainly he grew in character through this trial – in faith, in humility, in understanding of the Almighty. In that way, regardless of the material wealth he gained, the latter part of his life was indeed “more blessed.”

I can say with confidence that in these ways, we can relate to Job, and as such, his story is helping me come to grips with coming home. He endured far more suffering than we did, yet he found his security and center in God, and so was able to return home to enjoy the new life that God provided for him.

I asked the Lord the other night if we had also “passed the test.” Rather than wait for a “yes” or “no” answer, however, I think I would like to demonstrate to Him that indeed we did. I want Him to see that the trial was not permitted only to be wasted on us, and that we really have grown in faith, in humility, and in our knowing of Him.

Still, there lingers a bit of bittersweet…

Jesus said, “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:2-3). The new kitchen, the whole house, the nice stuff… It’s great, but it just doesn’t compare to being face to face with Jesus. He is the one who has carried us through this trial. He is our help, our friend, our source of everything good. He knows what it is to be human, and he knows how to help us cope with that. In Jesus is all the fullness of God. In Jesus, all things hold together. In Jesus, there is encouragement and comfort and power over death itself.

The one home that’s not temporary is the one He is preparing for us – and that’s the one I’m truly looking forward to coming home to.