Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.” (Genesis 31:3 ESV)
Home
God was bringing Jacob home from the moment Jacob moved away. Jacob needed a wife, a bunch of children, a herd or two of sheep, some capital, and some maturity. So God moved Jacob north, God gave Jacob necessary experiences, God gave Jacob a family, and when God was ready, God led Jacob home.
Along the way, Jacob did not receive a letter from God filled with explanations. God lovingly did exactly what Jacob needed.
Even when Jacob arrived ‘home,’ there was more movement to come. Jacob had to have peace with his estranged brother, Esau. Jacob had to lose his beloved son, Joseph. Jacob had to endure a draught. All so that God could move his family to lush and fertile Goshen, where that family would thrive. And then Jacob’s family, after 400 years, would finally move back home, to the land promised, again.
And even then… home for us is still ahead.
And God is at work bringing us there.
Every thing that happens, whether it seems good or bad, is happening to move us towards Jesus, and towards our eternal home.
Because that is what Jesus does for His people. He brings us home.
We can not yet be home, but Jesus takes us there.