The Journey Home

 

ADULT BIBLE STORY SERIES: THE JOURNEY HOME

INTRODUCTION: BECOMING AS LITTLE CHILDREN

 

Welcome back. When we were little children, many of us sat at the feet of a teacher or a parent and listened to Bible stories. We heard about Noah’s ark, David and Goliath, or Daniel in the lions' den. Back then, the stories were simple, and we listened with hearts full of wonder.

But as we grew up, life got complicated. The world got louder, the shadows got darker, and many of us found ourselves trapped in places we never intended to go. We stopped listening to stories because we were too busy trying to survive the "prisons" of our own lives.

Today, we are starting a new journey together. We are going to use the "Adult Bible Story" format. This isn't because we are being childish, but because Jesus told us in Luke 18:17: "Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." We are going to stop trying to be the "experts" of our own lives and instead become the children of God who are simply listening for their Father’s voice. Our journey will take us from the dry, dusty wilderness of this fallen world; through the white linen fence of the Righteousness of Jesus Christ, and all the way into the deepest part of the Tabernacle—the Golden Ark. There, we will experience an eternal living relationship with God our Father and creator.

As you hear these stories each week, I want you to do something special: I want you to look for yourself "between the sentences." Don't just listen to the words; find where you are standing in the story. Are you still wandering in the desert of this fallen world? Are you standing at the fence realizing your rags are filthy? Or are you finally standing at the Gate, ready to come home?

Somewhere in this story, you are there. And more importantly, God is there, waiting for you. Let’s begin the journey.

CHAPTER 1: THE DAUGHTER AT THE BARRIER

The world around her is a barren wasteland, a dry and weary land where there is no water. This is the Outer Prison of the Fallen World. It wasn’t always this way. In the beginning, everything was a garden of peace, but because of the first man, Adam, sin entered the world like a poisonous fog.

The weight of this history hangs heavy in the air; for as the truth tells us in Romans 5:12, sin came into the world through that one man, Adam, and his sin brought death. Now that death has spread to everyone because everyone has been born into a sin nature. Because of that first choice in the Garden, every human soul is born on the "outside," separated from the eternal life of the Father. While humanity was once created to be a living spirit, we are told in Ephesians 2:1-3 that we became dead in our transgressions and sins. We were once alive to God, but because of sin, that spirit died; now, we are all born physically alive into a sin nature and a dead spirit. We live in a world that is "broken" at its very roots.

For the women wandering here, this wasteland is a place of scorched earth and empty horizons. It is a world where things die, where hearts break, and where the penalty for our sin nature is a deep, spiritual thirst that nothing in the desert of this fallen world can satisfy. For some, it looks like the cold, gray floor of a jail cell. For others, it is the frantic, heart-pounding shadows of a life controlled by addiction. It is the silence of a home that used to be full of family but is now empty because of the choices made in the darkness of disobedience. In this desert, the wind carries the memories of lost custody, broken promises, and the crushing weight of "one more time" that turned into "one more year." She is a traveler in a land of ruins, searching for a drop of grace but finding only the dry dust of regret.

But the desert outside is nothing compared to the desert within. She is trapped in the Inner Prison—a fortress built from the stones of her past. In her heart, she carries "spiritual baggage" that feels like heavy, ragged, and jagged stones.

She carries the stone of "The Names They Called Me," the stone of "I’m a Failure," and the heavy weight of "It’s Too Late For Me." Deep at the bottom of her pack, she carries the roughest stone of all—the one that cuts into her soul every time she moves: the jagged stone of being an "Unfit Woman." This stone reminds her of every birthday missed, every meal not cooked, and every time she chose the darkness over her own family.

Alongside these lies; a jagged heavy stone of deep-seated self-loathing. It is a sharp hatred that she turns on everyone around her, but she saves the sharpest edge for herself. There is also the heavy, cold stone of a deep well of unforgiveness—bitterness toward those who hurt her, and a refusal to let herself off the hook for what she has done. This baggage is so heavy that she can no longer stand up straight; she walks hunched over, eyes fixed on the filth of her past, unable to believe that anything good could ever happen to someone like her.

As she walks, she looks down at herself. She is dressed in "Wretched Rags." She realizes the painful reality found in Isaiah 64:6, that all of us have become like something unclean, and even our very best "good deeds" are like these filthy, worn-out rags in the Father's sight. These rags are her own best efforts to cover her shame. They are the lies she told to hide her secret life, the fake smiles she puts on so people won't see she's breaking, and the "good behavior" she tries to maintain just to get through the day. But these rags are filthy. They are stained with the soot of old habits, the grease of dishonest living, and the dirt of a thousand "I'm sorrys" that didn't stick. She feels exposed and deeply filthy.

Suddenly, she hears a sound she didn't expect in the graveyard of a desert. It is a gentle, persistent knocking. It isn't a knock on a wooden door, but a heartbeat-like rhythm against the door of her own weary heart. It is the Savior’s voice calling out from Revelation 3:20: "Look! I am standing at the door and knocking. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in."

As she stops to listen, she looks up and sees a vision of Purity. Standing in the middle of this evil and filthy chaotic fallen world is a wall of "Fine Twisted Linen." It is a brilliant, holy white. She approaches the fence and stops, holding up a sleeve of her "wretched rags" next to that shimmering linen. The contrast is devastating. Her life is gray and torn; the fence is strong, straight, and perfectly clean.

The beauty of that white wall creates a deep ache in her heart—a realization that the fence is a testament to a holiness so pure that it cannot look upon wrong (Habakkuk 1:13). She hears the truth in her spirit: "Thy word is very pure" (Psalm 119:140). She realizes that this wall isn't just a barrier; it is the light of God shining into the darkness of her heart (2 Corinthians 4:6). This light confirms the deep ache in her soul: she is "outside,"------ a lost sinner, and the purity of God is "inside." The righteousness of Jesus Christ and the Holiness of God is like a spotlight on her heart, which reveals her desperate need for a Savior.

The fence is over seven feet tall. She can’t climb over it with the baggage of self-hatred, unforgiveness, and the jagged stone of being an "Unfit Woman" that she’s carrying. She can’t see through it to see if God is even there. She realizes that all her "trying" and all her "good intentions" cannot get her over this wall of God's holiness. She is stuck. She is a woman who feels she has lost everything, standing before a holy boundary she cannot cross. She begins to walk the length of the wall, desperate to find an opening.

She remembers the words of the Master in Luke 18:17, that I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive God's kingdom like a little child will never get in. A child doesn't try to climb a seven-foot wall on their own; they look for their Father to lift them or show them the way.

 

 

THE LAYING DOWN OF THE STONES

To leave the desert, she must first leave the weight. She stands at the base of that tall white fence and begins to name each stone as she pulls it from her pack. She doesn't try to polish them or make them look better; she simply acknowledges the jagged edges. She realizes that she must stop her "fixing;” she must stop trying to sand down the mistakes of the past with her own hands.

With a deep breath, she reaches behind her and unbuckles the heavy pack of self-hatred. She lets it fall into the dust. She physically opens her hands, releasing the stone of being an "Unfit Woman." As it hits the ground, she turns her ears away from the voices of her past and listens only to the rhythm of the knock. She tells the Lord, "I am not strong enough to carry these, and I am not good enough to fix them. I leave them here in the dirt." In this surrender, she finally stops being the expert of her own pain and becomes a child waiting for her Father to open the way.

THE FATHER’S HEART

Daughter, it is a good thing to finally admit that your rags are filthy. The "Inner Prison" of your heart wants you to keep trying to patch up your old life, but the "White Fence" of God's Holiness is there to tell you that you need something entirely new.

The Word tells us that if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation; old things have passed away, and behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Father isn't interested in repairing your life in the desert of this fallen world; He is calling you to leave it behind completely.

You are standing on the outside looking at God’s perfection. You feel the weight of the years you can't get back, the people you can't forgive, and the heavy jagged stones of failing your family and yourself. Do not be discouraged by the height of the wall. The Father didn't put it there to keep you out; He put it there to stop your wandering. He is knocking on the door of your heart right now, drawing you to the end of your own strength so you will stop looking at the desert of this fallen world and start looking for the Door.

THE NIGHTTIME REFLECTION

Tonight, stop trying to "fix" your rags. Just admit they are filthy. Stand at the wall in your mind and tell the Father, "Lord, I am on the outside. I’ve lost my way, I'm full of hatred for myself and others, and I’m carrying the weight of being an unfit woman. I’m covered in the dust of my past. I can't climb this wall and I can't clean myself."

As you go to sleep, remember what Jesus said in John 14:6: that He is the only Road that leads home; He is the only Truth that breaks the lies of your past, and He is the only Life that can replace the desert of this fallen world. No one gets to the Father except by walking through Him.

Tell Him, "Lord, I hear You knocking. I am walking along this fence, looking for the Gate. I am looking for You. I am coming to You as a little child."