Come Away With Me

I’ve kinda told this story before, but it’s worth expanding on. Especially now. Warning: this is going to be long, but it needs to be. God’s blessings have been THAT abundant.

A couple of years ago, I felt the Lord saying, “Come away with me.” Every time I went to prayer (sometimes even when I wasn’t praying), I heard it: “Come away with me.”

I knew He had something He wanted me to know - something important. He asked me to give Him more undivided attention so that I could hear Him clearly.

There were a lot of stressful things going on in my life at the time, so finally (eager to find peace), I surrendered. I gave up all forms of social media and gave that time to His Word instead. I woke an hour earlier each morning and gave that time to His Word also.

It’s a very long story (a story so amazing that I hope to someday write a book about it) but in those quiet moments in the Word, Jesus gave me a very clear command. He said, “Go home.” The Lord wanted us to move back to our hometown.

I didn’t know how on earth we would be able to do that, though. So, for for eight months, I just kept soaking in His Word. I listened, then followed, and He blessed. We prayed, then obeyed, and He acted.

The Lord parted seas and moved mountains. We saw miracle after miracle after miracle. Each was like a divine fingerprint saying “I’m here. I got this. Keep walking.”

So we did.

Then, finally, on August 23rd, 2019, we moved into a new house in our old hometown. But, as strange as it sounds, I knew that day wasn’t the end of our journey. I knew there was more that Jesus was trying to tell me.

So the very next morning (my first morning in our new house), I got up early again like I had done for the last eight months. I sat down in the living room, surrounded by boxes. I opened my Bible, randomly, to Song of Solomon chapter two.

At that point in my life, I had never read Song of Solomon before. But that’s what I opened to. My eyes immediately went to verse 1: “I am the Rose of Sharon, a Lilly of the Valley.”

I looked out the large windows in our new living room. There were several (huge) Rose of Sharon bushes blooming. The branches were actually reaching in the open windows, and white flowers were pressing against the screen.

Song of Solomon continued, “He brought me to the banqueting house... Behold, there he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, looking through the lattice.” (2:9‬)

It’s impossible to describe the peace I felt sitting there looking at those bushes. I knew the Lord was there with me. He was speaking to my heart. And all was right in the world.

And Song of Solomon continued, “My beloved speaks and says to me: ‘Arise, my love...and come away with me...’” (2:10‬)

There it was, again. “Come away with me.” I heard Him say it eight months prior. And that morning, He said it again.

And Song of Solomon continued, “The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.” ‭‭(2:12‬)

And a turtle dove cooed out my window.

And Song of Solomon continued, “Arise, my love...and come away with me.” (2:13‬)

I think it was one of the most powerful mornings of prayer that I’ve ever experienced. It was a moment where God not only made His presence known, but also confirmed His presence in all the moments that led up to that one.

That first morning in our new home, He led me to the scripture, “come away with me” (which, before then, I didn’t even know was scripture). It was like He reiterated the initial invitation... at the fulfillment of the promise.