I had the opportunity to sing at my father-in-law's church this morning... he's a music minister in Culleoka, TN... and apparently when you become a part of the Zimmer family you are automatically required to sing, sing well, and be available to sing somewhere in some church on any given Sunday!
So I sang my little song, listened to the sermon (which is always wonderful there and manages to pull on my heart strings at some point), and then the invitation began. Softly and Tenderly, a classic invitational song that I've sung a thousand times before, but today... for some reason... today, it felt different to sing it.
The chorus goes like this...
"Come home, come home; ye who are weary come home; earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling, O sinner, come home!"
Basically, what else is there than this? I have gone through my entire life loving to be at home... with my parents, kitties, etc. Now, it's different... I'm married and have a different dwelling to come home to, but that's not what makes me feel at home.
Lately, well... mostly over the past two weeks since starting at Vandy, I've felt very depressed. I'm not in the residency track I want to be in... I'm where I thought the mean people at Vanderbilt chose to put me... but now I'm beginning to realize that I'm where God chose to put me, whatever His plan may be. I haven't felt comfortable, or at home, because I'm not where I wanted to be.
Rambling on....
My point is that as I sang that beautiful chorus this morning on one of the most beautiful Sundays we've seen in months, I realized that what makes you feel at home isn't the circumstances that surround your life. It's not where you live, where you work, or what you do from day to day in the humdrum goings-on of life.
It's where you are with God.
With God, I am at home. In my heart, with the Lord, I can feel at home.
"Come home, come home; ye who are weary come home; earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling, O sinner, come home!"
All God wants is for our hearts to dwell with His. And the best part of this not-so-simple little chorus? "Ye who are weary come home."
Matthew 11:28 says, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."
So I sang my little song, listened to the sermon (which is always wonderful there and manages to pull on my heart strings at some point), and then the invitation began. Softly and Tenderly, a classic invitational song that I've sung a thousand times before, but today... for some reason... today, it felt different to sing it.
The chorus goes like this...
"Come home, come home; ye who are weary come home; earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling, O sinner, come home!"
Basically, what else is there than this? I have gone through my entire life loving to be at home... with my parents, kitties, etc. Now, it's different... I'm married and have a different dwelling to come home to, but that's not what makes me feel at home.
Lately, well... mostly over the past two weeks since starting at Vandy, I've felt very depressed. I'm not in the residency track I want to be in... I'm where I thought the mean people at Vanderbilt chose to put me... but now I'm beginning to realize that I'm where God chose to put me, whatever His plan may be. I haven't felt comfortable, or at home, because I'm not where I wanted to be.
Rambling on....
My point is that as I sang that beautiful chorus this morning on one of the most beautiful Sundays we've seen in months, I realized that what makes you feel at home isn't the circumstances that surround your life. It's not where you live, where you work, or what you do from day to day in the humdrum goings-on of life.
It's where you are with God.
With God, I am at home. In my heart, with the Lord, I can feel at home.
"Come home, come home; ye who are weary come home; earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling, O sinner, come home!"
All God wants is for our hearts to dwell with His. And the best part of this not-so-simple little chorus? "Ye who are weary come home."
Matthew 11:28 says, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."
(hints the picture up at the top!)
Man, do I need that. Isn't it wonderful to know that when we are the most out of our comfort zone, not where we think we should be, not well-rested to say the least, stressed-out, with too many responsibilities, that all we have to do is come to Jesus? Just come to Him?
Psalm 55:22- "Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken."
Matthew 6:25- "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?"
Mmmm... how comforting is God's love when we are, or think we are, in the depths of despair. Even when no one wants us because of our attitude, situation, or sin... God still wants us. He's calling us to come home... why is it so difficult to go to that place?
Into a home-like comfort, Lord, Deliver us.
Man, do I need that. Isn't it wonderful to know that when we are the most out of our comfort zone, not where we think we should be, not well-rested to say the least, stressed-out, with too many responsibilities, that all we have to do is come to Jesus? Just come to Him?
Psalm 55:22- "Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken."
Matthew 6:25- "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?"
Mmmm... how comforting is God's love when we are, or think we are, in the depths of despair. Even when no one wants us because of our attitude, situation, or sin... God still wants us. He's calling us to come home... why is it so difficult to go to that place?
Into a home-like comfort, Lord, Deliver us.
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ReplyDeleteAmen. I always need to be reminded that His yoke is easy and his burden is light - all our heaviness can be laid upon Him and He carries it for us - with Him we are truly Home. I think that I'll be reading this blog several times over.
ReplyDelete