There is just something about arriving “home” after a journey that, for me, has nothing to do with architecture or geography, but everything to do with those little things inside our house that speak of the small comforts I surround myself with daily – a favorite chair, a comfortable bed, even a well-used cup. These are the comforts of the everyday, the ordinary, the known, and, as exciting as travel is, the knowledge of this worn and tested place creates a particular kind of peace in me. Home and rest are synonymous.
We live in a world where this is not true for millions of people. Displaced by war, famine and persecution, they wander around in the uncertainty of tomorrow, no light in their eyes, no hope in their hearts, and at times I am almost overcome by the greatness of their lack and the fact that, no matter what I do, it is the tiniest drop in an ocean of need.
So, like the little boy with his loaves and fishes, I come before the Savior and place my meagre offering into His hands, asking Him to multiply it and do what only he can do. “Little is much, when God is in it” the old song says, and it is absolutely true! I have found that when I hear that still small voice and am obedient (even if the doing seems strange to me), I become a participant in what only HE can do! I am reminded that even if I cannot help the refugee thousands of miles away, there is someone on my patch, in my town, who is homeless and has no resting place, someone with whom I can share grace of God.
Isaiah 1v17 says: “Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.” When I read this scripture together with Micah 6v8, I come to the conclusion that God is very serious about us helping those in need. “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
These truths are not always convenient, but they ARE always an expression of the grace of God extended towards each of us.
