Romancing us Home by Betty Ringeisen

I first met Betty Ringeisen at a prayer conference, and we connected on so many levels. We’ve stayed in touch over the years, and I was pleased to write for her Kingdom Life Now venture. She writes about a different aspect of finding home – the Divine Romance.

When I was a teenager, Danielle Steel was one of the top selling romance novelists. My girlfriends and I devoured her books like a bucket of Boardwalk Fries. Steel was the 80’s version of Nicholas Sparks. Each book offered an escape into the world of romance. As teenagers, my girlfriends and I craved a good love story.

Things haven’t changed much in the last 30 years. I still love a good romantic story.

Last week my daughter and I attended a mother/daughter sleepover. Basically, it was a bunch of girls (of all ages) eating junk food and watching chick-flicks all night. Pride and Prejudice was the crowd favorite. Every girl in the room went crazy as Mr. Darcy strode across the meadow at dawn to pledge his undying love for Elizabeth. As the two lovers met I couldn’t helping feeling like they had found their home.

Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet by C. E. Brock (1895). “She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me.” Public domain.

When we think of home we often think of a building or structure where we live. However, the Hebrew word for home has a much deeper meaning. The word is often used to mean everything on which one depends. In other words, home means everything.

All of us, whether we’re willing to admit it or not, long to be someone’s everything. We long for someone to desire us so much they say words that are reminiscent of Mr. Darcy’s words to Elizabeth. “I would have to tell you, you have bewitched me body and soul and I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day forth.”

Most of us fail to realize the desire for a home was planted in our hearts by our Creator. From the moment we were conceived our own love story was already written. Listen to these romantic words:

“You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day” (Psalm 139:13-16, The Message).

We all long to be known. To be loved. To be invited into our own romantic love story. We want to be invited…home.

“From childhood on, something or Someone has called us on a journey of the heart. It is a journey full of intimacy, adventure, and beauty. But like any fairy tale it is also fraught with more than a little danger. To ignore this whispered call is to become one of the living dead who carry on their lives divorced from their most intimate selves, their heart. The Sacred Romance calls to us in our fondest memories, our greatest loves, our noblest achievements, even our deepest hurts. The reward is worth the risk. God Himself longs for us, if we are but willing . . . (The Sacred Romance, John Eldridge and Brent Curtis).

Most of us fail to see God’s longing for us. His constant pursuit of us. And yet, He’s always been there… Seeking us… Initiating a relationship with us. He draws us into intimacy with Him and invites us to love Him in response to His great love for us. George Eldon Ladd writes, “God is seeking out sinners and inviting them to submit themselves to His reign that He might be their Father.”

When Adam and Eve took the bite of the forbidden fruit they disconnected from their Father, and their communion with Him was broken. Desperately, they ran and hid from their Father, but He pursued them. Not as an angry Father looking to punish His naughty children for misbehaving, but as a Father who never stopped loving and caring for His son and daughter. His desire was to reclaim them as His own. To bring them…home.

Thousands of years later, His desire is the same… to reclaim each of us and bring us home.

By Zerovina (Own work), Creative Commons

In the Scriptures, it is clear God has a persistent pursuing love for His people. He is madly, deeply, and truly in love with each of us. He will do everything and anything within His power to win our hearts, to draw us to Him, and to get us to the point of surrendering to His amazing love for us.

Imagine the early morning sun rising on the horizon. You look and see Him striding across the meadow towards you. As He stands in front of you He confesses, “I would have to tell you, you have bewitched me body and soul and I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day forth.”

God has invited you into a love story. Are you willing to take the risk? Are you willing to accept His invitation? Are you willing to come home?

Betty Ringeisen is a writer, experienced conference speaker, and Bible teacher. Her greatest passion is to help others discover their God given identity. Betty believes every person has a destiny carved out for them and she equips others to meet their highest potential. She lives in the Northern Virginia area with her husband, Donny, and their four children. She home schools her children, loves to bake with chocolate, and runs marathons in her spare time. To view some of Betty’s past articles go to: www.thekingdomlifenow.com