HOMESICK, HOMECOMING AND DIVINE APPOINTMENT

HOMESICK & HOMECOMING: Have you ever been really homesick? I can remember several times especially in my youth longing for my home after being away for only a few days. It is a feeling that can literally make you sick.

We can't help but wonder if Naomi had this feeling during the long years she spent in Moab. Her homesickness must have been magnified after the deaths of her husband and sons. True, she had her daughters-in-law, but how much did they really share in her beliefs and manner of life? And, would they continue to remain faithful to her now that she tells them that she has nothing to offer them but poverty and disappointment? (Ruth 1:11-13)

The longing for home begins with the memory. It was so with the prodigal in Luke chapter 15. When he remembered the goodness of his father and had come to the end of himself, he longed to return and then decided to do so. We can't help but wonder what memories must have stirred in Naomi for her to begin the process of deciding to return to Bethlehem. Perhaps in the previous years while in Moab, the care of her home, husband and children had masked the memory of her homeland, God, and family. But now she had heard that God had visited his people and had ended their famine, giving them bread in Bethlehem, the house of bread. We might say that she had been reminded of the goodness of her Heavenly Father.

When Jesus sent messages to the seven churches of Asia in the book of Revelation, he specifically tells the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-5, that they had left their first love and told them to remember, repent, and return and then do the first works. I can't help but think that this is somewhat the process that Naomi went through. We don't know if Naomi was complicit with her husband in leaving Bethlehem or was obedient to him in following him, but now finding herself alone and in need, she remembers her homeland and she hears of the goodness of her God in giving them Bread and she longs for home.

Longing for home, however, and deciding to make the long journey back alone are two different things. Perhaps her mind was filled with the wonder of what kind of reception she would receive from her family and friends. Perhaps she was embarrassed that she and her family had left to find food and comfort in another land while her family and friends had remained to bear the toil and trial of the famine that hit that country. Perhaps she was afraid of the ridicule they would give her now that she is older and lost so much in the land in which she had formerly gone to escape. But, these thoughts must give way to the one great thought that, "God had visited his people and given them bread". Naomi could make the decision to return home based upon one thing, the GOODNESS of her God in restoring to the land the blessings he had formerly removed.

How about you today? What memories need to be stirred in you and what decisions need to be be made in your life? Have you left your first love? Have you tried to escape the trials and testings of God by choosing a place of your own to live, to serve, or to work? Have you been unfaithful to a spouse, have you neglected a child or friend? Have you forgotten the goodness of God and the truth that He longs to bless His people. The blessings of God only come in the place of God's choosing and it was Bethlehem that God had chosen to be the House of Bread, not Moab and when God restored His blessing, he restored it in the place of His choice.

Do you need to make a decision to return to God and to the place of His blessing in your life? Does your decision to return involve the thoughts that others will ridicule, neglect and shun you? Are you looking at your own abilities thinking they have dwindled over the long years that you have been away from your Heavenly Father? You will never return to the House of Bread and the place of God's promised blessing looking at others or looking at yourself including your lost abilities, failures and lost time. You will only make that decision as you remember the Goodness of your Heavenly Father. Remember the food He has and to spare. Even His servants are fed with the best of His food. How much more does He long to have his children return and receive His BREAD and his BLESSINGS. Like the prodigal's father, God waits, longing and looking for the return of the one who has left.

Returning to God starts with remembering the Goodness of God but it does not end there. The actual decision must be made to return. Naomi has made that decision in her own life, not knowing what awaits her and for now assuming that journey will be made alone. But, once the decision has been made to return to the place of God's choice she will discover that the goodness of God was not limited to her in the land of Bethlehem but that He has a "Severe Mercy", as C.S. Lewis stated it, awaiting her. She will be "Surprised by Grace." Amidst the sorrow of the death of her whole family and the loss of all things, God is working in the heart of her daughters-in-law and will also bring them to a decision. What decision will they make? And, upon what will it be made. We will discuss those questions in the next posts but for this one, the application is obvious.

Are we homesick for God, for His blessings, for His people, for the things of God in general. Are we in a "far country", a place of our own choosing instead of God's. Have we left the place of the blessings of our Heavenly Father and do we need to make the decision to return. We will not make it looking at others and fearing what they will say or do. Nor will we make it looking at ourselves and how much we have lost in the years that we have wandered from God. We will only make that decision by remembering the Goodness of our Heavenly Father. Remember Him today and His goodness to you in the past. And look at His goodness to you in the present in bringing you up to this moment in life and to this moment of decision. If you cannot remember His goodness on your own, look in his Word and see His goodness portrayed on every page of Holy Scripture and know that He longs to show that same goodness to you personally. And, as you look at Him and look to His Word, it is my prayer that your feeling of being homesick will be turned into a decision of homecoming.

Softly and Tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling for you and for me:
See on the portals He's waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me.

Come HOME, Come HOME;
You who are weary, come HOME;
Earnestly, Tenderly, Jesus is Calling
Calling, Oh Sinner Come HOME!!