I recently had a revelation that I thought I would share through this blog. There was a point in my life where I missed home. The definition of the word home is this: the place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household. Just a little background of me. I moved from Ohio to Illinois when I was 19 years old because I got married and my husband was from Illinois. So, I then lived 6 hours away from the life I had always known. After that move, for probably about 3 years or so, all I wanted to do was move back to my family and everything I knew. I missed home or the meaning of home that I had up until recently known as home. See, this is what I have come to know: a place, people, a feeling, these are all things that make home better, but these things do not make up a home. See, there is only one thing that makes home a true home for us. That is God. God is our home. Wherever we go, whatever we do, and whoever we surround ourselves with, if God is not with us we will not feel at home.

When I moved from Ohio to Illinois, I missed my family terribly, I missed what I knew, familiarity, but I didn’t feel at home where I was because I refused to allow God to guide my life. There was a Sunday that I remember being so upset and just done with hating where I was at in my life. I was at church in the alter praying and I remember just asking God to give me joy. Not happiness, but true joy that only He could give and when I asked Him for that, He gave it. I felt so much joy in that moment that I hadn’t had since moving to Illinois. I felt free of the sadness I had been facing. I left church that day forever changed because I had received something that only God could give. Home. I look back on all of this and I realize what God has done since then. He took anger, depression, anxiety, the feeling of being misplaced, all of that away from me and in its place He put joy and the true meaning of home. For me I had always thought of home as the people I was surrounded by or the place I grew up, but I didn’t have God in it with me. Once I allowed God to sit in His place in my life, everything else fell right into place. Although I do not have my family here with me, I have my husbands family, I have a church family, I have such close friendships. I am not in my hometown, but my husband and I now live in a city we call home and it’s not just because it’s where our house is, it’s because I allowed God to be where He is supposed to be in my life. I’ve placed Him first in my life and He has filled in all my empty spaces. I realized that those people that make us feel at home will one day pass away, or change, or move away. That house we called home may one day fall, or we may buy another house. The point is, material things, people, none of it will forever be our home. God is the only one that will never leave us, fail us, walk out on us, move away or change. He is and forever will be a God that is unchanging, always loving, a provider, a promise keeper, and a father.

In the bible, when God called people, they left their “homes” and followed. Matthew 4:18-22, God walked by men who were fishing and said “follow me and I will make you fishers of men” and straight away they took up their nets and followed after God. That means they left all they had, the only home they knew, and followed after God’s calling. The bible is still relevant today. If God calls us, even if it means we have to pick up and move to another state, or like missionaries, move to another country. God will take care of you no matter where you are because He is your home. God needs people in this world who are willing to make Him their home. When we do, He gives us everything we need to feel at home. He surrounds us with the people we need, the things we need, and He moves us to a place we feel at home. When we make God our home, there is nothing that we miss out on. Do I still miss my family, yes everyday, but I also am so thankful for those times when we visit and see them. God has also surrounded me and my family with people who bring comfort and love us as family. God is a provider. If you are feeling like something is missing, you just aren’t happy about your life and where you are right now, ask yourself if you are allowing God to be your home. Pray. He may be calling you to a higher place, a warmer place, a place you will be full of true joy and would love to call home. Answer His call and He will not disappoint you.