For years, a father kept his son’s chair at the dinner table. The son had walked away in anger, convinced he was better off alone. But the father never moved the chair. He’d say, “That seat is still his. When he comes back, everything will be ready.” He eventually returned. That’s what home with God looks like. The seat is still yours.
Friend, your lowest moment with God is better than your highest moment without Him (2 Samuel 24:14). At first, the prodigal son believed life outside his father’s house would be better — until he squandered everything on reckless living (Luke 15:13). It is the same lie the devil still tells people today.
The enemy whispers that you don’t need God (Romans 1:28). He suggests you can get by without the local church, that you don’t need spiritual covering or a community of believers. He convinces you that you are better off alone. But that pull toward isolation is not from God (Judges 18:28).
Faith is personal, but it was never meant to be private. Resist the urge to withdraw and live in isolation (Hebrews 10:25). We were made for connection. That’s why the Holy Spirit did not fall in private rooms but at the upper room where believers were gathered. There are some things God only releases in community (Psalm 133:1-3)
No matter how far you have drifted, you can still return home (Psalm 51:10-12). Don’t suffer in silence. Don’t cover up emptiness with religious excuses. Don’t buy the lie that the church is too flawed for you to be part of. The church is not heaven — it is a hospital on the road to heaven (Ephesians 5:25-27).
If the prodigal son could walk back home after everything he had done, you can too (Luke 15:20). Home is where love is. Home is where strength and sustenance are. Home is where safety and covering are. Home is where God is. Home is everything. No matter who you are, where you have been, or what you have done — you can come back home (Psalm 137:1-6).
‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria