~ written by Connie Dunmyer
What makes a house a home?
In our 47+ years of marriage, we have lived in 21 dwellings… everything from very fine houses to tiny apartments to motel rooms. Even in my first 18 years, before getting married, I lived in 12 different abodes. I think it’s fair to say most of my life I’ve considered my living places as temporary.
Hebrews 13:14 “For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.”
Having said that, I believe God gifted me with the ability of making each place feel like home. Regardless of where home is or was, we’ve always found people, things and places to enjoy.
Home is who resides IN it.
Home is even those welcomed INTO it.
Home is people.
Recently I found myself reading about another dwelling place, an eternal dwelling. And as I was reading, I realized that I could not concentrate on the words. They felt so hollow. Perhaps my eyes were simply too darkened by the surrounding storm. And so I prayed: “Heal my vision and/or give me spiritual spectacles.”
And so God did.
If I have learned anything, it’s that this darkness will not simply subside on its own.
I must walk INTO THE LIGHT. I must dwell in that Light.
Jesus is that Light. Thus, I must dwell IN Him. And He MUST dwell IN me. Jesus is my “dwelling place”, and I am His “dwelling place”. (If you missed the blog that talks about this mystery-miracle, check out “Whodunit”.)
Psalm 90:1-2
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
John 17:20-23
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — 23 I in them and you in me — so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
1 Corinthians 3:16
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?”
It’s the Kingdom of Heaven – now and yet to come.
It’s the inexplicable connection – of becoming One.
2 Corinthians 4:18
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
This is a thing “unseen”.
Unseen, and yet, if I put my focus on what I cannot see – there is comfort, strength and help in focusing, in knowing, that I am IN God, and God is IN me. Even though my eyes cannot see a way out – even though my heart may give way to fear at times – I am living WITHIN the Eternal Father God of the Universe. And somehow, some way, that same Eternal Father God of the Universe is living in me.
“All God’s promises are for all His people, of course; but human as we are, most of us only appropriate those of which we stand in desperate need. Those who know strong apparent security on earth may never come to realize God as their dwelling place; but those who must inhabit a thorny hedge in this life are ready enough to do so. The fear, the insecurity, and the pain that surround us are messengers of God to drive us to Himself …”
~ from Grace Grows Best in Winter by Margaret Clarkson
I don’t always understand what’s happening to me, let alone the “why”. But I do know that I am comforted when I realize that nothing is happening outside of the Father’s control.
Apparently not everyone needs the same lesson, because not everyone goes through the same lessons I go through. Some people seem to live in relative security. Some people have “lived in the same dwelling” their whole lives. Life can take on a more permanent vision for them. However, they are likely meant to learn different lessons that are not meant for me. What a wonder that the Father gives each of us whatever driving force we need to get us to dwell in the Father.
Revelation 21:3
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”
This mystery – the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven – is the future, but it is also here and now – today, tomorrow, next week, next year, for eternity. Home is who dwells there. Home is people. Home is God.
So this begs the following questions:
Where am I dwelling?
Is my heart His home?
Am I dwelling in the sea of fear? In the desert of despair? In the quagmire of questions?
Or am I dwelling in God, in faith, in active hope and trust, in His peace?
Do I put my focus, dependence and trust upon my heart’s greatest Resident?
Or have I shut the door to Him and instead embraced that which I actually despise?
My Prayer: I choose You, Father… my Abba, my Daddy. As in Mark 9:24: “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” Help me make this home, this heart, this “dwelling place” OURS – Yours and mine – together – as One. Help keep my vision clear and help me remember that all this other stuff is just temporary anyway. What matters is the Person living in this heart-home.
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