Articles
It Sure Is Good To Be Home
It Sure Is Good To Be Home
We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:9)
It seems that I have reached a point in my life in which I find myself often walking down memory lane. Sometimes the memories are filled with a touch of sadness and heartache. But more often than not, they are filled with memories of events that brought immeasurable joy into my life. It is one of those memories that inspires today’s message. One day I told my wife that I was going to buy a motorcycle. Her response, You’re crazy. Long story short, she loved riding that motorcycle with me. Over the ensuing years, we often would take off for several days on trips that would cover 2500 plus miles. Today, as I think about those trips, I remember how upon arriving back home, she would get off the motorcycle and say as only she could, it sure is good to be home. As I sit here thinking about how she felt, the thought overwhelms me that one day I want to stand in the midst of the wonderful city of God and say to her, it sure is good to be home! Home at last, O what a day that will be.
I remember the joy of those motorcycle journeys and at the same time I remember they were not always smooth and easy. Sometimes we encountered conditions that made them very difficult. Once, returning home from Madison, Wisconsin, we were caught up in a fierce thunderstorm. Thunder roaring, lightning flashing, wind howling and raining cats and dogs and we are out in the middle of nowhere with no shelter in sight. Believe me, we were thankful when finally, we did get to a place of safety.
Now, the thought occurs to me that as we make our way through this life it will not always be an easy journey. God has never promised us that we will have a life free from difficulties, burdens or trials. He has promised that so long as our commitment to him remains sure and steadfast we will never encounter any storm of life that we cannot conquer (Rom. 8:28, 31-39. Heb. 2:16-18, Heb. 4:13-16, Phil. 4:6-7, Heb. 13:5-6).
Hear the promise of the Lord made to Israel long ago, “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with my righteous hand” (Isaiah 41:10). There is not one ounce of doubt in my heart that this promise holds true for you and I today. He is the strength of our life and he will uphold us as we fight the good fight of faith against the afflictions and temptations of this life (Psalms 91:1-4, 121:1-8, James 4:7-10, 1 Peter 5:6-7, Phil. 4:13, Heb. 12:1-3).
“Life’s evening sun is sinking low, A few more days and I must go to meet the deeds I have done, where there will be no setting sun.” On that day I want to arrive on the heavenly shore and simply say, it sure is good to be home. How about you?
Charles Hicks, Hendersonville Tennessee
swabbie5256@gmail.com
(In memory of Sandra Pauline Hicks—Jan. 25, 1940-- March 13, 2017)
