Safely home...
Two astronauts, literally “stranded in space”, are safely home after a planned short journey escalated into a nine month sojourn in outer space.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Willians were welcomed home after an intended week long mission turned into 286 days. It’s hard to imagine their elation after an “adventure” they had not anticipated. They downplayed any imagined distress they might have experienced by simply expressing their gratitude for a safe ride home.
“Safely home”.
Those words have special meaning for believers in Jesus Christ as we hold to His promise to us that He is preparing a place--an eternal home--for us so that we can spend forever with Him (see John 14:1-6).
An old gospel song written by Jimmy Reeves has these comforting words…
“This world is not my home I'm just a-passing through My treasures are laid up Somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me From heaven's open door And I can't feel at home In this world anymore
Oh Lord, you know I have no friend like you If heaven's not my home Then Lord, what will I do?
The angels beckon me From heaven's open door And I can't feel at home In this world anymore”.
These words may seem wistful, if not “polyannish”, but they are anchored in the unshakeable truth of God’s Word “Hope is the sure anchor of the soul”.
Wilmore and Williams expressed confidence in NASA’s ability to get them home.
How much more our confidence in God’s promise to get us safely home!