Part 10- Almost Home

10th Key to Building Home- Know the location of your true home.

My daughter started reading The Little Princess. My heart ached in anticipation of her experiencing the loss of the girl’s father and the cruelty of the schoolmistress. Our house has a strict rule against revealing the endings of books. However, I felt led to comfort my daughter's heart. I held her hands in mine and said, “There are going to be some painful things in this book, but I promise you that it will all work out in the end.”

I did not tell her all the details of what the little princess would go through.  Nor did I spoil the ending. Yet, telling her that it would all work out in the end gave her the hope she needed to persevere through the book's difficult chapters.

Hasn't God also done this in our own lives? Unlike my family, God has no rule about keeping our ending a secret. He has lavished us with the knowledge of what is to come. He holds our hands and says, “There are going to be difficult times, but I promise that everything will work out in the end.” This pain and affliction we face is only momentary to the eternal glory you will experience with me. (Romans 8:18) I will wipe away every tear. I will execute judgment. There will be no more pain, no more death, and no more loss (Rev 21:4). I will work all things out for our good (Romans 8:28).

We hold onto the hope in these promises and take God at His word. He has given us hope for the future, so that in this life's present pain and cruelty, we can know that our ending will work out just as God intended. We will be the little princess reunited with her Heavenly Father, filled with peace, provision, and love.

We have reached the end of this series. Let us stand back and marvel at what the Master Builder has built through our partnership with Him. Holding the Master Builder's hand, He looks with pride at what was built. What has been made is beautiful- your home.

Looking back, we observe the heap of rubble. Our lives were in a mess due to circumstances and sin. Looking up at the Master Builder, joy fills our hearts. We are happy to know that He truly can be trusted. He pursued us and loved us as Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose to life. We asked him to be the builder of our spiritual lives so we could build our spiritual home with him. In that moment, our bodies become a temple where the Holy Spirit dwells in us.

Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we built our foundation based on the truths of his love and sacrifice. We were able to cast off the identity of an orphan and reclaim the identity of God’s cherished child. We were able to see the state of affairs in the kingdom of God and understand our purpose and position within it. In the throne rooms of our minds, we were able to give God the authority and our desires, so that good fruit could be produced in our lives.

Together, we have learned to discern the difference between false teachings and the truth. With the Master Builder, through confession and forgiveness, we have torn down old walls not tethered to the foundation of Jesus’ love. Instead, we built a healthy framework of walls of truth in our relationship with God that protect our thoughts and guide our actions.

Lastly, we see that God's hesed, his steadfast love, as our roof. His love is the covering of comfort and peace over our lives and our relationship with Him. When we abide in His love, we can be filled with overflowing joy and driven to a new purpose. The purpose is to be in Christ and follow His commands of loving God with all our hearts and loving our neighbor as ourselves. We marvel at the relationship that has been built, the home that has been created. We dance and sing with great joy that our identity is known. Our faith is sure, and our future is secure.

In my life, what started as loss and mental instability became new life and healing in our family. The hardship was a refining fire that brought me into a deeper relationship with God and healing for my soul. What was broken became a new, beautiful home.

What about the circumstances of our lives that do not end joyfully? As humans, we long for happy endings. We have the longing for all to be made right, evil to be vanquished, and good to be victorious. What if certain things in our lives can never be repaired on this side of heaven? What perspective are we to have in the difficult times in life?

Our perspective in Christ is that our earthly life is not our ending, but only the beginning. Pursuance of fulfilling earthly goals and materialistic pursuits pale in comparison to the importance of first being in a relationship with God. Seeking God first, and all these things, worldly pursuits, will be added. (See Matt. 6:33)

This life is only a temporary dwelling place; what will remain forever is our relationship with God in heaven. “We know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands…For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling.” (2 Cor 5:1,4 NIV)

We are made for a heavenly dwelling. Our bodies are just a kernel that, when planted, will come to new life. (1 Cor 15:37) Death does not have the final word in our lives or the lives of our loved ones. Our hope is not rooted in our temporary earthly dwelling, but in the heavenly home to come. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:1-3 ESV)

While we wait on this side of heaven for perfect bodies, we are not alone. God has given us his presence through the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us, comforting and guiding us. God has called us to His purposes on this earth. Let us live in a relationship with God, abiding in the home of His love on this earth, so that when storms come and go, we are secure within the love of our Heavenly Father as we eagerly wait for the day when we can see Him face to face.

It has been a privilege to walk alongside you as you build your spiritual home with God, strengthening your relationship with him as he dwells with you. May God bless you and keep you as you continue to build your life, until the day that he calls you to your true home.