A missionary doctor had spent forty years of his life ministering in the primitive villages of Africa. Finally, he decided to retire. He wired ahead that he would be returning by ship and gave the date and time of his arrival.

As he was crossing the Atlantic, he thought back over all the years he had spend helping to heal the people of Africa, both physically and spiritually. Then his thoughts raced ahead to the grand homecoming he knew awaited him in America because he had not been home in all forty years.

As the ship fulled into port, the old man’s heart swelled with pride as he saw the homecoming that had been prepared. A great crowd of people had gathered, and there was a huge banner saying “Welcome Home.” As the man stepped of the ship onto the dock and awaited a great ovation, his heart sank. Suddenly he realized the people had not gathered to pay tribute to him but to a movie star who had been aboard the same ship.

He waited in anguish with his heart breaking. No one had come to welcome him home. As the crowd disbursed, the old man was left waiting alone. Tilting his face heavenward, he spoke these words, “Oh God, after giving all those years of my life to my fellow man, was it too much to ask that one person – just one person – be here to welcome me home?”

In the quietness of his heart, he seemed to hear the voice of God whisper to him, “You’re not home yet. When you come home to Me, you will be welcomed.”