Serendipity Sunday: There's No Place Like Home...

Serendipity: An instance of making a delightful and unexpected discovery

~American Heritage Dictionary~

The following is an excerpt from my personal journal. This was written back in 1996, shortly after I became a new believer. It is based on observations I made while watching the "Wizard of Oz" with my daughter. Coming to know Christ was an instance of delightful and unexpected discovery. The search for faith led me on a fantastic and incredible journey with the unexpected result of homecoming for my heart.

"The Fantastic Journey," "Journey to the Center of the Earth," "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," " "Around the World in Eighty Days," and the "Wizard of Oz" are all movie titles that relate to some sort of journey or adventure. Lord, they all seem to me to be what everyone is looking for, a fantastic journey here on earth. We seem to be looking everywhere, under the sea, all around the world, even to places that don't really exist, like the land of Oz, hoping to find something, anything fulfilling.I have felt very much like Dorothy in the "Wizard of Oz." I awakened in a new place when I met You, Lord. Like Dorothy said in the movie, it just isn't Kansas anymore. It is a strange, new, and beautiful place. Just like Dorothy I've started down that yellow brick road, not knowing where it was going to lead, and meeting some strange characters that look vaguely familiar.
I've met the Cowardly Lion and curiously he has a face much like mine or at least my reflection. Like that Lion, I've spent a great deal of my life being afraid of everything. He was seeking courage, as was I. He finds he had it within him all the time, so have I, You gave it to me. Like the Lion, I just had to learn to use it. The key to my success has been this: "Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God, I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness." (Isaiah 41:10) You are strength in my weakness.I have met the Tin Man who only wanted a heart. He thought he did not have one; maybe it got rusted and frozen up because of harsh exposure to unwanted elements. Mine did. He found he had one, a perfectly good one, he just had to use a little oil and a soft cloth to clean it up and get in proper working order again. Mine needed that also. It needed oil, Your oil of anointing, Your oil of joy, and a soft cloth, Your robe of righteousness. "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul will be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness..." (Isaiah 61:10) These were needed to polish my heart up and set it to working properly.I have met the Scarecrow, who only wanted a brain and thought his head was only stuffed full of straw. It was for a while, stuffed full of stubble left there from long ago, packed in real tight and crowding out good thoughts. He was a clumsy fellow, one of his many falls knocked his stuffing loose and he began to think clearly. He did have a brain, a good one; it just needed to be cleaned up. Mine had bits of stubble stashed and stored from the past, really packed in tight. One of my falls knocked my stuffing loose and I am beginning to think more clearly and my mind is seeing more of You, God. "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts; And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way of everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24) The old stuff is beginning to disintegrate and light is sifting through, the light of Your Word.
What about Dorothy? She just wanted to go home. She knew there was no place like it. It was what she longed for and searched for. In vain she followed that yellow brick road. All she found along the way was trouble, a wicked witch, flying monkeys, magic spells, and not a moment of peace. The power to go home was within her all the time, on her feet, those shiny red shoes. She found out after traveling all that time that there is no place like home. Lord, I have found that out also, my heart longed for a homecoming to You. My heart longed to belong to You. All that searching down the wrong paths I have taken have led me to all manner of calamity and not a moment of peace. The power to go home was with me all that time, like Dorothy, I just had to ask. It was not in the form of shiny red shoes but in the shiny red blood of Jesus. "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." (Matthew 26:28) I have come home and there is no place like it.Lord, Dorothy met a wicked witch who tried everything in her power to hurt or destroy her every chance she got. I have experienced one similar to her, Satan. Satan, like the witch, plots to inflict pain, suffering, deceit, trickery, and destruction. In the movie there was always a way of escape or a successful rescue attempt. "There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." (1 Corinthians 10:13) Thank You for always making a way of escape from calamity and sin
And what of that great and powerful Oz guy? Who was he trying to fool? He could not give courage, restart a rusty corroded heart, or clear a mind of hay and stubble, not could he show Dorothy the way home. I know the secret; there is one, only one, who can give us courage to face daily life and struggles. There is only one who can oil and clean our hearts. There is only one who can clear a mind of hay and stubble. Most importantly, there is only one who can lead us home. It is Jesus. "Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)

I have landed home Lord and there is no place like it! Thank You for giving me courage in the face of adversity. Thank You for the oiling, care and cleaning of my heart. Thank You for the clearing of my mind. Thank You for the daily leading in Your direction, showing my heart and feet the right path to take. "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." (Psalm 119:105)

No Lord, this is not Kansas anymore, I am not riding that cyclone spinning and tearing out of control, deeper and further into sin. Everything has changed. This is a better place to be, quieter, peaceful, comfortable, and satisfying. It is so much more, there are not words enough to describe it except to say that it is the peace of Your presence. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world give, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27)

Oh yes, I have traveled to Oz and met with many strange and wonderful sights. It was an adventure of a lifetime, but as Dorothy so aptly put it, "There is no place like home!" "That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved." (Romans 10:9) Jesus, my heart is home!...."

Blessings,
Miss Sandy