Returning Home 回家
Dexu Xia
Returning Home
In distant lands they will remember me . . . and they will return. Zechariah 10:9
Walter Dixon had five days to honeymoon before he shipped off to the Korean War. Less than a year later, troops found Dixon’s jacket on the battlefield, with letters from his wife stuffed in the pockets. Military officials informed his young wife that her husband had been killed in action. Actually, Dixon was alive and spent the next 2.5 years as a POW. Every waking hour, he plotted to get home. Dixon escaped five times but was always recaptured. Finally, he was set free. You can imagine the shock when he returned home!
God’s people knew what it was to be captured, moved far away, and to long for home. Due to their rebellion against God, they were exiles. They woke each morning yearning to return, but they had no way to rescue themselves. Thankfully, God promised He’d not forgotten them. “I will restore them because I have compassion on them” (Zechariah 10:6). He would meet the people’s relentless ache for home, not because of their perseverance, but because of His mercy: “I will signal for them . . . and they will return” (vv. 8–9).
Our sense of exile may come because of our bad decisions or because of hardships beyond our control. Either way, God hasn’t forgotten us. He knows our desire and will call to us. And if we’ll answer, we’ll find ourselves returning to Him—returning home.
Where do you sense exile in your life? How are you hearing God calling you, showing you how to return home?
God, I feel far away from You. I know You’re near, but I feel so distant. Would You help me to hear Your call? Would You bring me home?
回家
他们必在远方记念我。……且得归回。—撒迦利亚书10章9节
华特 · 狄克森（Walter Dixon）只过了五天的蜜月期，就被送往韩国作战。几个月后，有些士兵在战场上发现狄克森遗留下的夹克，口袋里塞着妻子寄给他的信。军队长官便通知狄克森年轻的妻子，说他已战死沙场。但事实上，狄克森还活着，只是成为俘虏被监禁了两年半。他时刻都想尽办法要逃回家。他曾逃跑过五次，可惜都没有成功，直到最后才被释放。你能想像当他回到家时，众人是多么惊讶！
上帝的百姓也曾体会那种被人掳去，远离家乡，渴望回家的心情。以色列民因悖逆上帝以致被敌人掳到异国。他们每天早晨醒来都渴盼回家，但却无法自救。令人欣慰的是，上帝应许永不遗忘自己的百姓，上帝要怜恤他们，并领他们归回家乡（撒迦利亚书10章6节）。祂会抚平百姓期盼回家的痛楚，但这并不是因为百姓的坚忍，而是因着上帝的怜悯：“我要呼叫，……他们要归回。”（8-9节，和合本修订版）
我们可能会因为做了错误的决定，或因身陷困境，而感觉自己成了俘虏，远离上帝。但尽管如此，上帝绝不会遗忘我们。祂知道我们的渴望，也会呼唤我们。我们若回应祂，就会知道我们已经回到祂的身边，回到天父的家中！
在你的生命里有哪方面让你觉得自己像个俘虏？
上帝如何呼唤你，指引你回到祂身旁？
上帝，有时我觉得自己离祢很远，但其实祢就在我身旁，求祢帮助我能听见祢的呼唤，带领我回到天父的家中。