All the Way Home
I’ve always grown up in a household where most life lessons were taught with an opening sentence beginning with “Mama always said..” Anything that I was trying to learn how to cook was always introduced with “Mama always used to do this…” Now a “Mama” myself, I find myself saying similar things to my own children and even my husband. Today, I was just struck by the incredible legacy I’ve been a part of; a legacy of loving the Lord and loving family. What a blessing. I was at the gym listening to an Andrew Peterson song entitled, “All the way Home.” The last verse is very dear to me…..
I have slept in the house where my mother was born
And I’ve seen the sun set on the lake that gave birth to those storms
Well, they may not have walked on water
But I know that their house stood firm.
All the way home
They followed the tracks that the saints have trod
By the grace of God
They walked in the rain of His mercy
Let it soak them down to the bone
And they splashed in its puddles
And danced in its streams as they’d go
And, oh, they walked in the rain of His mercy
When they sat in their home
When they walked along the road
When they slept and when they rose
The words of the Lord were impressed on their minds
And after all this time
I’m carried along like a leaf on a river of faith
And I’ll float
All the way home
Yes, I’ll follow the tracks that the saints have trod
By the grace of God
I’ll walk in the rain of His mercy
Let it soak me down to the bone
And splash in its puddles
And dance in its streams as I go
And, Lord, I’ll walk in the rain of Your mercy
All the way home.
I just can’t help but think about my Grandma Hill and the legacy she left before her. The teachings she passed on to my mother..who passes them on to me…. the blanket she crocheted for Emma Faye. She had the bluest eyes and sometimes I like to think Will is wearing her eyes being that no one in my immediate family has those crystal blue eyes. Yes, the importance of family and holidays was instilled in me from the very beginning because it was very important to her. Therefore, we all would gather together, but it wasn’t all about us. It was about Christ. At Christmas the second chapter of Luke was always read aloud and every meal was bathed in a thankful blessing to our Lord and Savior for His provision. Today I am overwhelmed. I, too, have been “carried along like a leaf on a river of faith.” I’m overwhelmed that I have been adopted into this faith… into life with Christ. And carried along it is. I didn’t choose Him. He chose me. He has scooped me up within His nail -scarred hands and has carried me along.
“For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:6-7
Tonight my heart is aching for everyone who longs to feel loved. For everyone who cannot comprehend Christ’s love for us-His precious children. For a long time I think I viewed God’s love for me from the perspective of Him loving me in spite of my sin. He loves me because I have now changed and am “loving” Him. I feel like God is changing my heart and opening up my eyes. God changes me. God changes my heart. God doesn’t love me in spite of my sin…He loves me because of my sin….because He knows I need Him. He died because of MY sin. Not just those who were living in his day. He saw my “unformed substance and in [His] book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.” (Psalm 139:16). He died for me… and He died for you. He lives for me… and He lives for you. Do you believe that? Then stop the self-condemnation. Stop the striving. Where do we get off that we can do something to change our corrupt souls and sin patterns? It is only Christ in us who can make those changes. Satan’s great tool is to constantly remind the Christian of his failures; keep the list of sins against his Lord. He wants us to think that this God doesn’t know what He’s doing. Let’s question His methods. Chosen? Why does God choose some and not others?
I’m not here to debate predestination. I just know that the bible says I am heirs with Christ. It says that I am adopted as His child (Romans 8:14-17). I don’t know of an orphan that went seeking adoption. I don’t know of a child who decided to become an orphan. I just know of families whom God has laid on their hearts to go and adopt a child, sign up, pay a price, wait… travel… some thousand and thousands of miles…claim their prize and bring them home… and love them as their own. I, too, was an orphan. My mother was an orphan…and her mother…and her mother…and Christ traveled to earth. He paid the price. He gave His life for mine. He arose fulfilling his promise to us “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:18. I am no longer an orphan. My Christ as found me and my life is a process of Him bringing me closer to Himself. One day I will finally reach my home.
So today, I’m overwhelmed by this act of grace and mercy. I made my way to the entrance of the fitness center and was met with a torrential down pour. It was raining so hard!! I stood there, ipod still playing, Andrew Peterson still singing. My shoulder was brushed by someone darting out with a newspaper over his head. I stepped aside. An older lady opened an umbrella and began a brisk walk to her car. By now Andrew had reached the chorus of the song… and I couldn’t help myself. I stepped out…nothing covering my head…palms upward feeling the rain. My bangs began dripping water into my eyes. It was hard to see, but I imagined it all was God’s mercy. By now streams of thankfulness were flowing from my eyes. As I slowly walked to my car I “walked in the rain of His mercy and let it soak me down to the bone.” Can you picture it? The next time there is a heavy rainstorm go outside and get soaked. It’s incredible. And that’s the kind of mercy the Lord pours out on us daily. We are soaked in His grace and we so often are unaware. It is by grace we have been saved. I must say it again. It is by GRACE we have been saved. Dear, dear friends, get in His word today and let Him soak YOU down to the bone!
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August 27th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Thank you, friend, for this most important reminder. I’m sitting at a desk wishing it were raining so that I might run out and be drenched. Thank goodness we do not have to wait on the rain to be soaked to the bone by His great mercy!
love you!
d