The Long Way Home

“But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” Luke 15:32

So what does all this talk about God’s grace and His pursuit have to do with you?

That’s the ultimate question isn’t it.

Well, I think it has a lot to do with you. If you want to live a life of grace then you must be willing to see God’s grace in the world around you. It is there, because His grace is everywhere. Sometimes we may discount it or look at it as coincidence or chance, but it is really just God.

Just God.

What an idea.

Our humanness finds it hard to conceive of just God. We are conditioned to believe that He can’t be involved in the mundane details of our lives because He is too busy running the universe.  But what if we change our way of thinking to realize that we ARE His universe. All he wants is the opportunity to share our lives, our hopes, our dreams and our reality. He already wrote the story; He just has to wonder sometimes why we take the long way home.

Home. A four-letter word that we all believe in and search for every day. But home is where He is and where His is enough.

Isn’t it?

His grace is our home. His mercy is our hope. His love is our promise, and it’s a God thing. Do you remember the story of the prodigal son? If not, let me share it with you:

¹¹ Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. ¹³ “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. ¹⁷ “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸ I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ ²⁰ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. ²¹ “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’  ²² “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. ²⁵ “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷ ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’   ²⁸ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ ³¹ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” Luke 15:11-32

I can’t tell you how many times I have realized that I am the prodigal in this story.

And every time I read it and see the response of the father at the end of the story, I am thankful and amazed at God’s grace.

He let me go, but not too far.

He waited for me, but didn’t force Himself on me.

He eagerly anticipated my return but wasn’t push.

Then, when I finally came home after many years of trying to make it on my own, He threw a party.

How do I know?

I just know.

The way I know that my mom and dad are watching me from Heaven, and the way I know that God has a plan for my life.

He has a plan for you, too, you know, and I would love to hear all about it.

Please share your story of God’s grace with me. You can write it hear and God will be sure I hear you.

My goal is to start a community of grace that is founded on the Grace of God and lived out daily in the lives of His people. As Paul said to the Christians at Thessalonica, so I say to you:

“ ¹⁶ May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, ¹⁷ encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. “ 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

His grace is real. Embrace it, believe it, live it!