Home By Another Way

How carefully and tenderly God watched
over Jesus during his journey on earth.
Already in danger, even though just a
young child, the life of Jesus was
threatened by the evil plot of Herod.
God made sure His Dear Son went safely
home by another way.

You and I, too, safe in the Father’s
gaze, shall go home by another way: I
know it deep in my heart. It shall not
be what we have planned for ourselves,
or what others have planned for us, but
what our loving, Heavenly Father has
decreed. Kept from danger, guided by
God’s providence, held in our Father’s
hand, we shall arrive safely
home, but not by the path we had imagined.

The mystery of our lives as believers
is that we are not our own, and our
story and history is not our own. We
belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God
and our stories are not just individual
stories about our families, our lives, our
accomplishments, but are micromovements
in a great symphony that is being
composed for principalities and powers to
watch (Eph. 3:10).

This symphony is the story of God’s love
for Christ, and Christ’s love for us.
Do not think you are the center
of the universe and have accomplished much:
your whole life is a mere note in the
grand symphony of God. On the other hand,
never think you are unimportant or
forgotten to God.

It is He who has written and destined
our lives and it is He who shall perform
and keep them, whether we be allowed to
live one second or one hundred years. We
have all been written into His grand story,
given a place that God has ordained,
that will bring all glory to Him. Live unto
Him, dear brothers and sisters, live wide
open to His great and matchless love for you.
Even when fear assails you and your life
does not seem to make sense, His love is
still creating that unseen and as yet,
unfinished symphony entitled, “In Praise
of Christ.” I assure you, you have your
part in it.

Our lives do not unfold haphazardly. Nothing
happens by chance. While we often wait with
bated breath to see how the events of our
lives will unfold, the truth is, the scripts
of our lives were written into one Grand
Script outside of time and it is already
being played out through and for God. We
surely have free will, but some things are
ordained as surely as the sun rises each day
and sets each night. Such things are too
wonderful for us to comprehend. Such is the
sovereignty of God. Much of our lives we
spend waiting to see, in a way, what will
happen next. The truth is we are already
hid with Christ in God. We are both onlookers
and participants in this great story that God
is spinning.

Perhaps our hearts fear that we will be
left behind, not included, not have a place.
Children easily feel these difficult
emotions but adults tend to be embarrassed
and and ashamed of their need to be loved
and have a place of acceptance. The fact
that we can even feel these feelings means
that there is a place for us. God has promised
it. He is not cruel. He does not implant deep
longings to be called forth only to rebuff us.
His Love calls to us, calls us to life, calls
us to know how utterly accepted we are in the
Beloved. While other tables may reject us,
other people may exclude us from their love,
even our families may not want us or understand
us, there is always a place set for us at God’s
table. May His Name be praised forever!

I find it comforting that Jesus chooses these
words as part of the last few important words
He leaves us with: “Let not your hearts be
troubled, you believe in God, believe also
in Me. In My Father’s House are many mansions:
if it were not so, I would have told you. I
go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:1,2).


He is giving us something to hold onto when
we feel alone and afraid of not having a sure
place. And who does not feel this at one
time or another? Friends come and go.
Institutions, even churches,rise and fall.
Jobs end. Marriages fail. Sureness and certainty
are not given to us in our outward lives. Yet,
His promise to us IS certain. He said, “I have
a place for you, I would not have told you if
it were not so.” How full of tenderness, how
well aware of human need and frailty,
are Jesus words of comfort and assurance to
us. How can we ever love Him enough?

We are never out of God’s reach, never
shielded from His sight, never ever given
over to the whims of man, never forgotten
or rejected or ridiculed by God.
All is of God (2 Cor 5:18). All, somehow,
comes by God’s hand and all, somehow,
flows back to Him, and is restored by Him.

What we become in the process of life
is all part of what will bring God
pleasure and glory. Your life is in
order and on track if you will just
surrender yourself to where He will
take you. Dance with God, but let Him
lead. He will dance you all the way
from here to eternity. He, no doubt,
will dance you home by another way.
Let go of your expectations. You are
safe. Enjoy the symphony. Love God.
You are most certainly loved by Him.

the goodness of God
the character of God