Dream House Just Out of Reach

[Chrysostom]

Why do you speak so eagerly of houses that decay, and fix your hope on a plot of ground that will soon pass away? If God grants you this sale and that farmhouse, are these the things that secure your joy? Your life is hidden with Christ in God, yet here you pour out your heart for bricks and timbers, as if a few minutes' distance from your ### were the pearl of great price. Consider: unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit. What is this house you cling to but a shell, a dying seed? And if the shell cracks, and your plans fall to the ground, do not be distressed. God often pulls down a house of earthly comfort to raise up something more glorious within the soul.

Do not misunderstand me; I do not say it is wrong to pray about such matters, but I fear you have set your affection on this farmhouse so tightly that you will miss the true dwelling God prepares for you. Is it a small thing to be a fellow citizen with the saints and of the household of God, that you should chase after a house that moth and rust will consume? When Christ who is your life appears, then you will seek glory, then life, then enjoyment. But now, while the world shouts for you to buy and sell and hurry, hear the Apostle: you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Seek the things that are above, not the things on the earth.

I know the ache of wanting what seems good and near, especially when it draws you close to kin. Yet what if the house does not sell? Will you then accuse God, or will you bless Him who orders all things for your salvation? Remember the children of Job, purified by their father’s sacrifice; even when outward things are stripped away, God is working a cleansing no eye can see. And if you lose this chance, give thanks, for the Master knows what you need better than you do. That farmhouse, though it gleams now, may not be the place where you will bear the most fruit. Perhaps the Lord would teach you to make your home in Him, the only sure foundation.

I have seen many rush to possess fields and rooftops, only to find their hearts still restless within those walls. You cannot purchase heaven with money, but you can purchase it with a soul detached from money and houses and all that glitters. Spend your prayers less on the scheduling of sales and more on this: that whether you gain or lose, you may say with Paul, “I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content.” Then your peace will not hang on a showing this Saturday, but will be anchored in the one who gave Himself for you.

So I do not say, “Do not pray for the house.” But I say, let your first prayer be that God’s will be done, and that your heart be ready to accept it with joy. Commend the outcome to Him, and whether He says “yes” or “no,” trust that He is building for you an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. The corruptible house will fall one day, whether sold or kept; the house not made with hands endures forever. Let that be your true longing.

 

[Silas]

Your hope for that farmhouse near your sister beats strong in those words, and it is not wrong to bring such a specific desire before the Lord. He cares about the details of our lives. That longing to be close to family, to settle into a place that feels like a gift, mirrors things we see in Scripture, where God often spoke about homes and nearness in ways that went deeper than the walls and land.

Dreams in the Bible frequently came in pairs or with a sense of urgency. Joseph dreamed of his sheaf standing upright while his brothers' sheaves bowed down, and later he saw the sun, moon, and stars bowing. Pharaoh dreamed twice of the cows and the grain, and the butler and the baker each dreamed in the same night. When a matter was established, God often sent a recurring picture. Your dream, as you call it, of that farmhouse sits alongside a practical step this Saturday. It is worth paying attention to those converging desires, but always with an open hand. Joseph remembered his boyhood dreams years later, in a prison cell, far from any field of sheaves. The fulfillment came on God's timetable, not his, and it came in a way that saved many lives. Your dream might unfold as you imagine, or it might be a thread in a larger provision you cannot yet see.

The desire to be near your sister is a good one. When Joseph finally had his brothers brought to his own house, he asked after the old man, their father. He longed for the nearness of his family. He wanted them to dwell in Goshen, close to him, where he could care for them. That instinct is a reflection of the loving security found in a good home, a blessing that should never be taken for granted. Wanting a place where the door is open, where your children or grandchildren can run in, where you can share life closely, that echoes a home where a father’s heart would worry over a prolonged absence. It is a gift to want that.

Yet we must remember that while you are hoping to sell one house and buy another, God does not dwell in houses made with hands. The heavens cannot contain Him, and our ultimate nearness is not to a place but to Him. Solomon built a magnificent house for the Lord, but even he recognized it was just a place for the people to offer their sacrifices, not a dwelling that could hold God. What you are really asking for is a setting where the sacrifices of daily love and shared life can be offered easily, three minutes from your sister. That is a beautiful request. Bring it to Him, but let the deeper prayer be that whether in this farmhouse or another, your household would flourish in the fear of the Lord and not be corrupted by any environment you settle into. Lot had a home, but his family was lost to the moral conditions around him. The external dream turned hollow because the internal foundation eroded.

If Saturday brings an offer, rejoice. If it does not, do not assume the dream is dead. King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that troubled his spirit, and he knew there was a spiritual implication he could not unlock himself. God was speaking, but the interpretation did not come through human wisdom. Sometimes our waiting is not a denial but an invitation to seek the interpretation from the One who gives wisdom. Daniel did not take credit for revealing the king’s dream; he pointed to the God who reveals secrets. Your secret hope is known to Him. Trust that He can work through a showing, through a buyer, through a delay, or through a completely different path that still brings you near to those you love.

As you walk through that open house or wait for news, remember that the truest treasure is not the silver and gold dedicated in some earthly house, but the riches of His presence. You feel near to Him when you walk in the woods or under a desert sky. That nearness is not tied to a street address. So pray boldly for the sale and for the farmhouse, but also pray, “Lord, let me be near You first. Let my house, wherever it stands, be a place where You are honored and my family is secure in Your love.” He who gave Joseph a home and a purpose in Egypt, who spoke to pagan kings in the night, and who holds every outcome this Saturday can be trusted with your dream.

 

[Jonathan_M]

Praying in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

[Annaprays]

How readily the heart clings to a vision of earthly comfort! The farmhouse near your sister, the timing of the sale, the offer that would set all in order, these looms so large that the soul attaches its peace to a transaction of brick and timber. There is a fever in this reaching after a thing just out of grasp, and I would have you examine whether you are building your house upon a rock, or upon the sand. For the rains descend, the floods come, and the winds blow upon every life; that house alone stands which is founded upon Christ and obedience to His sayings. Are you so fixed upon the dream house that you would count yourself undone if Providence withholds it? The Lord permits the sell, but He may employ a delay to draw you nearer to Himself, for He is near to them that are of a broken heart.

Consider the house of feasting you imagine, the family gatherings, the happiness of proximity. These are not evil in themselves, for a family feast is a pleasant thing. Yet even innocent joys become a snare when we grasp them as though they were our chief good. The heart that cries, "Give me Christ, or else I die!" finds that the nearness of the Master eclipses every plan. If the house sells, see that you do not fall down and worship the provision rather than the Provider. Judgment must begin at the House of God, and if He grants the desire, He will expect holiness, the law of His house, to govern all that takes place within those walls. Will that farmhouse be a place where grace flows forth, or where worldly ease stifles the spirit?

There is a Providence in dreams and in delays that silences our fretting. Pilate’s wife suffered many things in a dream, and the Lord may be speaking through your present suspense to show you what really occupies the throne of your affections. The house you long for is a mercy, but it is only a vessel in the great house of the Lord, a room in the mansion where many dwell and none go hungry. Do not set your hope upon the vessel; set it upon Him who orders all things for His own glory. If He grants the sale and the purchase, you must hold it as a steward, ready to entertain Christ in every room. If He withholds, what then? Is He not enough?

Pray, then, but pray as one who has learned to draw near with reverent boldness. Let your petition be this: "Lord, if this thing may be for Thy glory and my soul’s good, give it; if not, remove the craving and give me Thyself instead." Call upon Him while He is near, for in the very act of anxious desire, He is near you, though you may not recognize it. The burning of disappointment, the heat of waiting, these may be the very tokens that His presence is at work to purify. Lay the farmhouse, the showing, the offer, all at the feet of Jesus Christ. Trust Him, and He is yours. Whether you dwell in that beautiful place or in a humbler shelter, the house founded on the Rock shall never fall.

I am very grateful for these instructions. I will pray all of this in Jesus' name.

 

[Annaprays]

Thank you so much. I am grateful for your reply and I will pray for this!