Home can mean many different things. For some, it means a physical building; for others, home is being with family or a sense of familiarity; some consider their home to be the country or town in which they were born and raised. Personally, I could call many places my home, as I have been fortunate enough to have lived in many different countries, towns and cities around the world. Often, when one does not a have a home, it causes them to become unstable, exposed and restless. When someone does not have a home or does not know a place to call home, this can cause unsettledness, which left me questioning: how important is it to have a home?  And, if a home can change location, where is home?

With my mixed ethnic background, I am often asked the question: ‘Where do you consider to be your home, Laura?’ I have tried to explain this many times the best I could, but it always ended up with my answer being: ’I can’t really say I have one home; my home is in many different places.’ My mum, for example, spent sixteen years in Peru before she moved to the UK, where she has lived her entire adult life. Arguably, both countries are her home. Just because my mum was not born in England, does not mean that her home is not here. I was born in Hong Kong, but I certainly do not consider Hong Kong as my one and only home. Therefore, it is possible to have more than one place to call home, which do not necessarily have to include the place you were born and raised. That is why common racist remarks towards ethnic minorities like, ‘Go back home!’ or, ‘Go back to where you came from!’ are so wrong. It is so sad to hear these remarks and must be even more painful for the recipients. Some of them have even been born and raised in the country in which they are being discriminated, and some have settled from other countries, but, like my mum, still consider home to be in two places. Whether born, raised or living in a country, home cannot be based on a physical factor, but something deeper. In the Bible, we see Jesus referring to His home in a very different way, which I feel explains why some may feel lost without a home, and perhaps even confused, as in my case, as to where home is.

Having a deep relationship with God has answered all my questions around my true identity in God, including the location of my home. The Bible makes us understand in Jeremiah 1:5 that God knows us before He formed us in our mother’s womb. Just like a company envisions its product before it is manufactured, God also envisioned you and created you before you were sent to earth. If you are alive on this earth, according to the scriptures, you were packaged and parcelled by God and then sent here to earth with a God given purpose in mind, you are heaven-sent! However, although God sent me into the world, I was never intended to remain here. In 1 Chronicles 29:15, we are described as being ‘visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us’. Even Jesus explicitly said to his disciples: ‘I am not of this world.’ (John 17:16) So why did God send us into this world if we were never meant to remain here? Let me draw your attention to a passage in the Bible that always speaks to me so profoundly. Apostle Paul in Romans 12:2 tells us: ‘Do not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.’ God sent you into the world with a specific God-given assignment to help advance His Kingdom. However, God needs physical vessels to work through. If we believe that everyone was created by God, who is a God of love, He cannot send us into the world and force us to do His will. Out of love, God gives us choices, even the choice to accept Him and the purpose He has for us. Even though He made us with a plan in mind, He loves us so much that He will let us choose His plan or our own plans.

Finally, Jesus often reminds us of the fact that His home was not on earth. Jesus says to his disciples in John 16:28: ‘I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.’ Jesus does not say he is going back to Bethlehem or Nazareth; he says he is going back to be with the Father. In addition, Jesus tells His disciples that His Kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). In John 14:2, Jesus adds that he is ‘going to prepare a place’ for each one of us who believes in Him. Though I may have different earthly places I call home, the most important home I will ever have is in heaven. Therefore, it does not matter where I am, my true home will always originate with God in heaven – a place of comfort, rest and, above all, stability. Knowing that my home is in heaven grounds me. It gives me an assurance in life that no matter the difficulties of this present world, it is all temporary, and that through the storms of life I can still have joy and peace that comes from my home in heaven. Being a Christian often means that you do and think the opposite of the world around you. That is why in the book of Romans Apostle Paul tells us not to conform to this world, and I believe he says this because God knows the best plan for our lives. Therefore, to live a truly fulfilled life we cannot look to the world around us for answers, but we must look to God.  For this reason, I live without fear of death, but with the expectancy of going back to be with the father, to a place Jesus has prepared for me, once my assignment here on earth is completed.

So where do you consider to be your home?

God bless.

Author: Laura McBride Galarza

Editor: Melissa Bond