Coming home to how it was always meant to be
During the night I had a vision….Zechariah 1:8
This is where we move into the weird and the wonderful. Zechariah records eight visions that he is convinced come from God. We might call them dreams, but they are more than just dreams. Zechariah enters into conversation with angel of God to understand what he is seeing (whether he is asleep or wide awake at this point is unclear).
So here we go!
VISION#1: a man mounted on a red horse with red, brown and white horses behind him.
I asked, ‘What are these, my lord?’
The angel explains these are the ones God sent out into the whole earth
We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace. Zechariah 1:11
A lovely image, but the angel picks up on the confusion and possibly indignation that Zechariah must be feeling – so how come Jerusalem is in such a mess?
Lord Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years? Zechariah 1:12
And God replies with ‘kind and comforting words’.
How long?
We all ask this at times. And it’s OK to ask. It’s OK to feel confused about the timing of God. It’s OK to beg for whatever we are going through to be over. Don’t ever feel guilty for that.
How long am I going to have to suffer like this? I don’t know if I can take any more.
How long is this going to to on for? Make it stop. Please make it stop.
God explains how angry He is with the surrounding nations who ‘went too far with the punishment’ of God’s people.
Now it is time for the people of Jerusalem to return home. To reconnect with the one true God. To rebuild their lives. God will come to them in mercy and allow them the time and space to rebuild the temple, that place of worship that designates clearly the intention of the people. Right priorities will be re-established. Right practices will be restored.
The exile is over. The time of feeling far away from God has come to an end. They have physically returned to their homeland and spiritually returned to their relationship with God.
The people will again have enough, materially and spiritually. They will be protected and provided for. God will come to them with His mercy and comfort.
Coming home. It feels great, doesn’t it?
To walk in the front door after a really tough day at work, take off those pinching shoes and slide your feet into those cosy fluffy slippers….
Or to turn the key in the lock and pull your suitcase in through the door and to stand for a moment, enjoying all the familiar sights and sounds and smells, anticipating that first sip of fresh coffee from you own special mug.
Or to return after a weekend away, knowing that your partner, your kids, your dogs, your bed(!) will be there to welcome you and receive you home.
As we talked about yesterday, when we re-establish a connection with the divine, it’s like coming home. However long we have been wandering and straying from our path, turning back towards God feels like coming home. We are finally being true to who we were created to be and it feels good. Maybe we’re been detached and distant in a self-imposed exile and now it’s time to reconnect with the familiar that has always been there. We have always been loved and accepted and we have always belonged. Learning to live in the truth of that is like coming home.
Maybe suffering and pain and illness and depression and betrayal and rejection have caused us to feel separated from ourselves, separated from good, separated from hope, separated from the light, separated from God. I haven’t got any promises here. I can’t tell you when that will all end. But I know it’s OK to enter into conversation with God about all that you’re going through – to ask the questions you need to ask and then allow the time in the stillness and silence to allow the divine to minister to you with the love and mercy and comfort that you need to get through another day.
Let’s all discover a little more today what it is to come home to how it was always meant to be.
