THE FATHER’S HOUSE

Have you ever been caught out in a storm at night with a knifeblade wind invading your bones? Or in one of those sudden, raining-sideways, summer cloudbursts that threaten disorientation and drowning in rain ?

What are you thinking of as you scuttle along, head down, battling the blast?

Home. That’s what you’re thinking of, I’ll bet—A blazing hearth for icy hands and feet or a thirsty towel and crisp clothes waiting to bless a rain drenched body.

Home is what I think of when I face life-storms that baffle and batter me or those I love. Not the little home I live in here, but my real, permanent residence—the Father’s House.

Helmut Thielicke wrote
Again and again the towers of the Father’s house suddenly light up as we tread the dust of the far country.

He’s talking about people who struggle against discouragement or doubt or sorrow, but who cry out to the Lord and then watch for the lights in the darkness.

We all tread the dust of the “far country.” That’s where we are now, pilgrims heading for home. We desperately need vision far beyond here and now, far beyond this life. We need a cosmic vision. Here is mine:

The Vision

This is the future, the destiny
That keeps my head up,
And keeps my heart strong.

This is the promise, the vision
That sings in the mist,
And calls me to come.

This is the far country, luminous,
That shines in my soul,
Drawing me on:
Home

Although I may have waxed poetic here, I mean this in an honest boots on the ground way. This vision of the Father’s house where Jesus actually has prepared a place for us is given to keep us strong in faith and obedience.

Because Jesus saw into the reality of the glory that awaited him, he was able to submit to the Father’s will, even suffering torture and death. He saw beyond the limits of yesterday, today, and tomorrow into a real, limitless, timeless, glorious future.

It’s the home and the future of every man and woman who have given themselves to Jesus.

When it seems dark in your world, and I believe there are some dark times ahead, turn on your cosmic vision and watch for the lights in the Father’s house.

Then give Glory, Glory, Glory to God.