I recently reread something I wrote five years ago. It was a short reflection, but I still remembered the day. The morning had been a whirlwind of getting the kids ready and taking them to school, followed by a workday packed with six hours of back-to-back meetings. One meeting ended early enough for me to grab something to eat before the next one began. Somewhere in that busy stretch, I found myself with about ten minutes and a cup of coffee.
I sat back and thought about God on His sovereign throne. The next meeting was still coming, and there was plenty left to do, but remembering who God was helped me see the day differently. I wrote about being a pilgrim traveling toward my true home and encouraged others to live each busy moment with that destination in mind. Reading those words again, I was grateful for the reminder. After five more years of life and time in Scripture, I also found myself thinking more deeply about the home I had been looking toward.
“The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.” (Psalm 103:19 ESV).
God had been reigning while I was getting the children to school, moving through meetings, and wondering when I would have time to eat. My awareness of His reign had changed; His reign had not. Those ten minutes gave me room to remember something that had been true throughout the day. I could return to the work waiting for me knowing that God still reigned over my life.
We need that perspective when our circumstances fill our field of vision. Sometimes it is a crowded calendar. Sometimes it is a difficult relationship, a diagnosis, or an empty place at the table. These things deserve our attention, and some weigh heavily on us. Remembering God’s reign gives us somewhere to bring that weight. It also reminds us that what we see in front of us today cannot tell us everything about where He is taking us.
That is where my thoughts about home have grown. I still think of myself as a pilgrim, and I still long to be with the Lord. But what makes that home so precious? When we imagine being there, what are we most eager to leave behind, and what are we longing to receive? The more I consider those questions, the more I find myself returning to the beginning of Scripture.
Genesis introduces us to a God who creates a good world and places people within it to bear His image. He gives them responsibility, provision, companionship, and a relationship with Him. Before sin enters the story, Adam already has work to do in the garden. Human life has purpose, and God looks upon everything He has made and calls it “very good” (Genesis 1:26–31; 2:15).
Isaiah also speaks of God’s purpose in creating the earth:
“he did not create it empty,
he formed it to be inhabited!” (Isaiah 45:18 ESV).
God intended His creation to be inhabited. The earth was a home He had prepared for human life, and life within it was His gift. Then sin entered, bringing shame, blame, painful toil, and exile. The people God had made hid from Him, turned against one another, and faced a future in which they would return to the dust. The goodness of what God had given them was now wounded by their rebellion (Genesis 3).
Would life in God’s creation feel like something we needed to escape if we could enjoy it with Him, free from sin and death? Think of companionship without betrayal, meaningful activity without the burdens of a broken world, and love without the fear of the next goodbye. Eden helps us recognize something about our longing. We can be deeply grateful for the gift of life while aching for everything that has gone wrong with it to be made right.
We already know moments that make us grateful to be here. We hear a child laugh, sit across from someone we love, or finish something useful and feel the satisfaction of having done it well. Even a quiet cup of coffee can become an occasion for thanksgiving. Yet we also know how quickly a phone call can change the day. We have seen selfishness damage what love built, illness interrupt plans, and death take someone whose presence we thought we would enjoy much longer.
Scripture gives us language for that ache. Paul describes creation groaning under corruption, awaiting freedom. He includes us in that longing as we wait for the redemption of our bodies. God’s promised answer reaches into the very things that make life here so painful. His people await resurrection, and His creation awaits liberation from its bondage to decay (Romans 8:18–25).
Our confidence in that future rests on Jesus. He entered this world, lived among us, bore our sins, and rose from the dead. Paul calls the risen Christ the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep and tells us that those who belong to Him will be raised at His coming. We can trust Him with our own future and with those who have died in Him because He has already broken death’s hold (1 Corinthians 15:20–23).
Some of us would gladly face another crowded calendar if it meant hearing a loved one’s voice again. We remember conversations we would like to continue and ordinary moments we did not know would become precious memories. Resurrection speaks into that grief with the assurance that death will not keep those who belong to Jesus.
“The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1 Corinthians 15:26 ESV).
Paul comforts the Thessalonians with the assurance that the dead in Christ will rise and that His people will be with the Lord forever. We can miss someone deeply while trusting that promise. Our tears express the pain of separation; they do not cancel our hope in the Savior who will bring His people together in His presence (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18).
When John sees a new heaven and a new earth, we hear the promise that brings our longing for home into focus:
“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.” (Revelation 21:3 ESV).
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more…” (Revelation 21:4 ESV).
Home with God. No more mourning, crying, or pain. The One seated on the throne promises to make all things new (Revelation 21:1–5). We long for that home because we long to be with Him, to receive His comfort, and to live where sin and death can never wound us again.
We do not know every detail of the life He promises. We can trust what He has told us and leave the questions He has not answered in His hands.
That hope can help us love the people before us today. The children who need our attention bear His image, and the people we work beside give us opportunities to serve. Together, we can ask where a little patience, a listening ear, or a word of encouragement might help someone carry the day. If a relationship needs care, we can prayerfully consider a faithful next step. Our longing for life with God can strengthen the love we offer within the life He has already given us.
We can also let that longing draw us toward repentance, forgiveness, and holiness. Peter connects our expectation of God’s coming day with lives of holiness and godliness as we await the new heavens and new earth, where righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:11–13). We still face responsibilities we cannot finish and losses we cannot repair. Sometimes following Jesus means doing the next necessary thing while carrying grief. We can bring that grief to Him, receive the good He gives us, and help one another keep walking toward the home He has promised.
Looking back, I am grateful for those ten minutes and that cup of coffee. They helped me remember that God was reigning over the day I was living. Five years later, that same truth brings me deeper comfort as I think about the home ahead. We are still pilgrims with people to love and responsibilities to carry. Perhaps our next quiet moment can give us room to thank God for the life He has given us, trust Him with what hurts, and follow Jesus into the next part of our day. The God who reigns over this moment is the God who will welcome His people home.
As you sit with this teaching today, consider what you long for most when you think about being home with the Lord. How might His promise help you face a sorrow you are carrying? What person or responsibility before you needs the faithfulness that this hope can strengthen?
If you are willing, share your reflections or questions in the comments so we can learn and walk this journey together.
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