Jesus: A Man Who Knew When To Call Home

When I was in college, I spent a summer tree planting with the British Columbia Forest Service. My job was to plant trees, one at a time, all day. The goal was to place a small seedling in the ground so that years from now, the forest would be thick and beautiful. The forest was breathtaking, but the job...it was awful! There were trees, bugs and bears! There was isolation, rough conditions, lack of showers, and the repetitive 12-hour days that consisted of repeating the identical planting motion thousands of times. It wore me out!

I can still remember sitting on a log in that forest with a fellow planter named Richard. We were sitting in silence (there was nothing to say) eating our sandwiches when a large bug landed on Richard’s bread and began to eat it! I could see the look in Richard’s eye. He thought it was his chance to get even for the hundreds of bug bites he had endured, and so Richard got revenge in a way that I will NOT describe!

That summer was filled with lonely, hard, back-breaking work. To top it all off, we weren’t making any money because tree prices were down. I was so discouraged. We took a day off, and I remember calling home. My voice shook and I remember the reassuring sounds of my dad telling me it would be ok. He said to me that I was going to make it, and that someday soon I would be home.

The Bible says Jesus would often draw away to a solitary place to pray. He was calling home. I love that! That’s the Jesus I know. The God who permits me to be homesick.

As I get older, I can honestly say that I want to go home. I didn’t always feel this way, but I have seen enough of this world to know that as a believer in God, I am not home. Someday, we’ll be there and then everything will be all right.

In the meantime, I hold on to the promise of God in Hebrews 13:5: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (NIV)

Since God has assured us that He will never let us down, never walk off, or leave us, we can boldly say that “God is there, ready to help: I’m fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?”

Are you a little homesick for Heaven today? It’s ok. Jesus understands. As you wait for that glorious place of answered questions: no more tears, no more sickness, and no more pain…we can hold on to the Jesus we know. The One who said:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:1-3, NIV)

What a miraculous day that will be! Don’t forget the truth today!

You are a miracle!

Your friend,

Grant