Homesick

I

t was a terrible evening. My second day at church camp had gone well but as the sky began to darken and the time to go to sleep in a strange bed approached, I found myself feeling less and less well. Yeah, I was suffering from my first bout of homesickness and boy was it ever a textbook case. The church camp was located about three hours from my home. I was very excited about attending church camp but that evening just thinking about my room, my parents, and good food, made me want to go home. So, I did what any kid would do. I called my dad at 10:00 in the evening and said, "I want to come home." Do you know what he did? He came after me!!!!

We all face times of loneliness in our lives. Sometimes these feelings stem from a sense of loss, or we feel that others just don't understand us. At other times, distance between people makes them feel lonely because they are separated from friends and loved ones. Sometimes this separation is emotional and sometimes it is physical. And, the worst of all scenarios, sometimes it is both. That was the case with me, as a seven-year-old boy, far away from home.

The Apostle Paul experienced similar situations in his life. Not only did he know what it was like to be away from family and friends, he also knew what it was like to be imprisoned, hungry, beaten, abandoned, betrayed, and shipwrecked. Yet, he writes what may be the most beautifully penned words of assurance in chapter 8 of his letter to the Romans. Verse 35 reads "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" This is a very important question because sometimes we feel that Christ has forgotten us. We feel there are so many things separating us from him and getting close to him seems impossible.

Fortunately, Paul has a wonderful answer to this question in verses 38 and 39. He writes, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." What a promise!

That night, long ago at church camp, I was very lonely and felt very separated from my family. Yet, I knew that if I called my dad, he'd come and get me. Although there was physical distance between us, nothing could separate me from his love. This is God's promise to you and to me. He who watches over us and cares for us with a love far richer than our earthly fathers will be there to answer the phone and come get us when we are lonely. We have his word on it, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you."