The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10 NIV
We moved to Garland, Texas, in the middle of my third-grade year. I lived in that same house on Sweetbriar until I married and moved out twelve years later. Within a quarter mile of our home stood a large blue water tower.
From most angles, the water tower wasn’t visible from our home. But if you stood in our driveway or backyard and turned in a particular direction, there it stood. Standing tall, looming ominously over our subdivision and surrounding neighborhoods, I thought it was an eyesore even as a child.
In truth, it wasn’t unsightly. As water towers go, I suppose it was fine. The city had painted it a pale blue, with hopes it would become invisible against the Texas skies. It wasn’t invisible to me. I was not a fan of the blue tower.
That is until I hit seventh grade. That’s when my parents began sharing carpool responsibilities with my friends’ parents after church youth group events. It quickly became evident that I had directional issues and had never paid attention to street names along the routes we regularly traveled.
I would tell the parent-driver my address and that we lived close to the big blue water tower. Happily, most were familiar with the water tower, and from there, I could direct the driver to my house.
Unfortunately, I never grew out of my “directional issues.” It became a running joke when I was a teen, “Sherri can’t find her way home unless she can see the blue water tower.” It didn’t matter who was behind the wheel, me or a friend. I needed that water tower to find my house.
When I read, “The name of the LORD is a fortified tower, the righteous run to it and are safe (Prov. 18:10 NIV),” my mind quickly associates God’s strong tower with the blue water tower of my youth. My spirit is immediately comforted, knowing I will always find my way home.
That statement begs the question: Where is your home?
Expand on that: How do you define home?
The answer to both questions is the same, “Home is where the heart is.”
That oft-quoted line means different things to different people. But, to the believer, the underlying meaning should be clear. My heart belongs to God, as does all of me. If my heart is His, then He is my true and forever home.
Now. Tomorrow. Forever. He is my home. He is my strong and mighty fortress, my shelter in the storm. He is the solid rock on which I stand. He is my firm anchor when strong winds of trials and trouble threaten my footing.
He is the way home because He is home.
When my heart is not wholly His, that’s when I lose my way. That’s when the roads are unfamiliar. Every path is rocky and danger-filled. That’s when I arrive at one destination only to realize it’s not my home—it’s not where I belong.
So I pick up the pace, anxious to get home. I look frantically for the light blue water tower that will show me the way. Seeing no tower, I become more anxious, frustrated, scared, and angry. Feeling lost and alone, I travel from one destination to another, always finding upon arrival this is not where I belong.
Only when I confess my divided heart and surrender all to Him does the shape of His Mighty Tower again become visible in the shadowy distance. Fully surrendered, the lostness fades away, light dawns, and I recognize I am not traveling alone. And, I realize I have never been alone since Christ became my Lord. Never. Not even for a moment.
“But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.” Proverbs 4:18 ESV
Do you ever feel lost and alone as you search for the way home?
Are you building your life entirely around your earthly existence with little or no thought of your eternal home?
Decades later, my directional issues continue. We’ve lived in multiple states across the U.S. Each place we’ve lived, I’ve had to identify a landmark that would act as my “blue water tower” so that I could find my way to my earthly home. And still, I have managed to lose myself, time and time again.
Even at my most lost, I see clearly the Mighty Fortress of my God, and I feel His Hand holding mine as He leads me Home.
Have you realized He is the way home because He is your true and eternal home?
“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in You my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of Your wings, I will take refuge till the storms of destruction pass by. I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me. He will send from heaven and save me…. Selah, God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!” Psalm 57:1b-3 ESV
“For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.” Psalm 61:3 ESV