My House is Your House

What’s it like when you walk into a house and right away it feels like home? When you walk through the door that particular house feels so peaceful, relaxed, and welcoming. It’s cozy and comfortable-looking. It has a quiet sense of beauty—some flowers, green plants, soft cushion-y chairs, elegant wide windows that look out onto an inviting yard or maybe a serene patio view. And as you set down your things and walk into the kitchen you hear, “Glad you are here. My house is your house.” Now that’s a place most of us would want to be.

I shared in an earlier RE post ‘Come On In!‘ the idea that God is waiting for you to knock on the door, ring the doorbell, or just walk right in.

“Our Responder is God. God sees our reactions. He seeks and calls out,  “Where are you?” God knows the gulf, the chasm between His child in crisis and Him. He’s not calling out because of anger or judgment. He’s seeking reunion.”

And in my last post, Doing a 180, I shared about the struggles we all have with saying we are sorry and seeking forgiveness by our turning around and going back home – repenting is hard. But the rewards can be life-changing.

“Repentance opens the door to reconciliation – which brings retry, restore, renew, and lots more of those positive RE words!”

The reward comes when you walk in and are welcomed home.

Reconciliation is the beginning of Restoration

I just love that these are RE Words – this is God’s language of RE!!! And it starts with His gift of Redemption.

It was a long time since Bill had stopped by the wood shop. There might be a good chance he might run into Chuck, and he had no idea how that would go. The two of them were a great team, especially in the shop. They both had excellent skills and great tools. When they worked on projects for the senior home, there was a synergy, a respect that helped them complete many a well-designed, good-looking project—book shelves, revitalized end tables, plant stands. Their last project was a rolling portable indoor garden. The residents could garden indoors! The last time they worked they had a huge disagreement about how to complete the project. Bill walked out leaving Chuck to finish it alone. Not good. A couple of times Bill saw Chuck in the dining room turning and walking away from him. It had been over three weeks and Bill missed working in the shop, he used to be there almost every day. He missed his friend. Maybe he’d just peek in. Wouldn’t you know it, Chuck was coming up right behind him, so avoiding each other was not going to happen. After an awkward silence, Chuck extends an open hand, ‘”Boy, we sure are two stubborn old geezers, aren’t we?” As they walked into the shop they talked about what happened, they apologized, they gave each other a quick pat on the back. Joking and the typical, gentle smack talk began as Chuck showed him the train table he was making for his grandson. Restored.

Have you ever reconciled with a friend? a family member? a co-worker? The experience is always relieving, and often joyful.  What about your relationship with God? Have you talked to Him lately? Guilt or un-forgiveness towards another can create a widening chasm between you and the God who loves you.  Are you mad at Him, or do you think He’s mad at you? This powerful story Gwen Smith tells describes her separation from God through her own rebellion that led to heartbreak. She was pursued and forgiven by God. She repented. Turned around. She was reconciled. Restored.

“You may have gone through a season of hurt, rejection, or pain, but God can and will pick you up and place you back on track.  I’m living proof! Don’t hold onto those pieces of brokenness. Don’t hide them behind a plastic smile. Bring them into the light, lay them at the feet of Jesus, and let go.  God delights in transforming lives.“

There’s something really powerful in all this. Not only are we reaffirmed and reconnected to the amazing God who created us, but we get to be on God’s support team! He’s calling us to be His ambassadors!

“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” II Corinthians 5:18-20

Each of us has been put in a neighborhood, or a church, or a job, or a family for a reason. Have you ever wondered why? Who’s there that needs reconciliation? with you? with God?  We are with people daily who may need to hear the great news about coming home.  We must experience restoration first. When God pursues, forgives, and restores us, our story has power. You are the world’s greatest authority on what has happened to you.

“When you know about how He heals the breach, how He crosses the gap between you and Him, and you find yourself now enfolded in His divine arms, supported by His divine grace, and forgiven by His divine love, you can share that with someone else.”  (R Stedman)

God’s goal is this: He wants us to come home—to be with Him. Now…while we are still here on this earth. He wants a relationship that is real, not covered with some religion’s ideas of right and wrong, or magic tickets. We know when we mess up; we know when we are distant from God’s presence. There’s lots of stress. Loneliness. Emptiness. That is not the life He planned for you and for me. He wants to bring us joy! He wants to fill us with a renewed awareness of who we were meant to be and where we are meant to be – home. And when that all happens, we hear Him say, “My house is your house.”