I was on a plane somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean when I had the first dream. As most dreams are, it was confusing, full of images and scraps of sound that, though vivid and realistic were disjointed and without logical sequence. I had another similar dream on the bus taking me to my hometown back in Canada, then another on the train north, taking me to the isolated fishing lodge where I was to work for the summer. The dreams were full of foreign scenes ? orange-tiled roofs and dark-skinned children from Spain, cheese shops and narrow streets from France, soaring mountains and towering cathedrals from Switzerland.
The trip from Lisbon to my destination in northern Ontario took about 36 hours. By the time I arrived I was disoriented, but had no time to think about it. I went to work immediately and didn't have a chance to relax until later that day when I went for a swim. Floating on a small raft, I soon was dozing in the warm sun. Again, dreams filled my mind with disorienting images and sounds. Then my foot slipped off the raft into the icy water. I woke with a start, staring at a landscape that shocked me. There were no red-tiled roofs or foreign languages, no Gothic cathedrals or cobblestone streets. My eyes opened to rugged cliffs and swaying pines. I knew I was not in Spain, but where was I? Then I realized, "Oh. Canada. I'm home." Home - the place where I was safe, where everything was familiar ? the landscape, the culture, the language.
I was on a plane somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean when I had the first dream. As most dreams are, it was confusing, full of images and scraps of sound that, though vivid and realistic were disjointed and without logical sequence. I had another similar dream on the bus taking me to my hometown back in Canada, then another on the train north, taking me to the isolated fishing lodge where I was to work for the summer. The dreams were full of foreign scenes ? orange-tiled roofs and dark-skinned children from Spain, cheese shops and narrow streets from France, soaring mountains and towering cathedrals from Switzerland.
The trip from Lisbon to my destination in northern Ontario took about 36 hours. By the time I arrived I was disoriented, but had no time to think about it. I went to work immediately and didn't have a chance to relax until later that day when I went for a swim. Floating on a small raft, I soon was dozing in the warm sun. Again, dreams filled my mind with disorienting images and sounds. Then my foot slipped off the raft into the icy water. I woke with a start, staring at a landscape that shocked me. There were no red-tiled roofs or foreign languages, no Gothic cathedrals or cobblestone streets. My eyes opened to rugged cliffs and swaying pines. I knew I was not in Spain, but where was I? Then I realized, "Oh. Canada. I'm home." Home - the place where I was safe, where everything was familiar ? the landscape, the culture, the language.
We all need that place called home. We need to know we are safe and surrounded by what is familiar. But sometimes we can feel as though we are living in a foreign land, surrounded by strangers speaking words we can't understand. Sometimes we feel so out of place that every day is a struggle, a battle to believe we belong. The battle is real because the truth is we don't belong. We weren't made to live in this world of corruption and chaos. We were made to live in a climate of joy and praise, in the presence of God. Anything less will make us feel disjointed, out of place. Anything less will leave us with a longing for home.
Our home is not a place, not a city nor a country field, not a valley nor a mountaintop. Our home is with God. "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:1,2). Peace with God brings us home, no matter where we are, no matter what our circumstances. Jesus brings us home. Follow Him.
All of us are standing at the doorway to eternity. You may not realize you have your jacket on and your hand on the doorknob. Are you "good to go?"
Has God revealed Himself to you? Have you received gifts from His hand? Acknowledge them. Acknowledge Him. Be Thankful.
Then Jesus said - "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." (Matt 18:35)
We all have been forgiven a huge debt, a debt we could never repay. That debt should have cost us our very lives, but it was wiped out by the sacrifice of God's own Son, Jesus. In light of this truth, we are as unmerciful as Guy in the story above, when we refuse to forgive those who owe us, those who hurt us, those who sin against us. And just as it was with the servant in the Biblical story, who suffered in the end, so it will be with us. Those who do not forgive are always those who suffer. The bitterness and hatred affects not the one at whom it is directed, but the one who will not let it go.
Do you feel someone owes you? Do you know that it is you who have owed the greatest debt? Do you know that debt has been forgiven? Experience the freedom of that forgiveness and extend it to others. It will add good years to your life.
Marcia Laycock is a pastor's wife and freelance writer living in Alberta Canada. Her devotional book, The Spur of the Moment has been endorsed by Janette Oke, Phil Callaway and others. To order, and to view more of Marcia's writing, see her web site - www.vinemarc.com
Copyright Marcia Lee Laycock, 2000, 2001,2002,2003,2004