The Promise of Home by Rose McCormick Brandon

Great confusion awaited the disciples. They were soon to encounter the chaos of the cross. They wouldn’t understand it. They expected Jesus to set up His kingdom and to rule with Him in a world dominated by His peace. They will someday, but they couldn’t see the vast river of time separating the cross and resurrection from the established Kingdom of God. 

                They, and we, are still waiting in the river. Jesus' message to them is His message to us today: 

Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. John 14:1-3 NLT

                Sin and madness appear to rule. Events take place that cause our agendas to explode. Anarchy shrieks and lawlessness threatens. Scoffers deride Jesus’ message. They heap scorn on us who wait for His coming. 
               Don’t be discouraged by mockery. Jesus always keeps His promises. When the time is right – when our home in Heaven is ready, when the last soul kneels at the cross, when the Almighty gathers all the threads of history and ties them together – then, He’ll come and take us HOME.
                How the heart warms at the thought of home. A sanctuary. A place of relaxation. We can go shoeless, shirtless, pyjama-clad, hair undone, and feel no guilt. Because we’re home. 
               A much greater life than one of security and ease awaits us. Our true and eternal home. We may not have identified it as a longing for God’s house, but it’s been there, always, niggling at the soul, a nameless pining. A yearning for HOME. 
                 When the drapes open to let in today’s light ask, “Is it today, Jesus, that everything will be ready?” Perhaps not today, maybe not tomorrow, but some day, oh my, the curtain between heaven and earth will rend and a blast of heavenly light will release all His followers from the dust and carry us home. 

                Today, my Lord, let me ponder the heavenly home you’re preparing for me. It’s beyond my imagination, still, I can dream of it as I wait for You. 

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Rose McCormick Brandon is the author of four books, including Promises of Home – Stories of Canada's British Home Children, plus dozens of personal experience pieces, devotionals, short stories and essays. Rose’s work has won awards in the personal experience and short essay categories. A member of The Word Guild and The Manitoulin Writers Circle, Rose and husband, Doug, summer on Manitoulin Island where her pioneer ancestors settled and the home of his favourite fishing holes. The rest of the year, they live in Caledonia, Ontario, near their three children and three grandchildren.