The last thing he did before handing over the keys was walk through every room. He touched the kitchen counter he had tiled himself. He stood in the doorway of his daughter’s bedroom, with the height marks still pencilled on the frame. Then he locked the front door for the last time and gave the keys to a man from the bank who was kind about it, which somehow made it worse.
Homes are lost in many ways. Payments fall behind after a redundancy or an illness. A business run from the downstairs shop fails and takes the house with it. A marriage breaks up and neither partner can afford to stay. A family decision goes wrong, or someone signs as guarantor for a relative who defaults. However it happens, losing a home carries a particular kind of shame. It feels public. The neighbours see the van. The children have to explain to their friends. At church, people are either too kind or too quiet.
A proverb for people who fall
Proverbs 24:16 is short: “For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again” (NIV). The rest of the verse goes on, “but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.”
Two things stand out. First, it assumes the righteous fall. Not once, but seven times, a number that in Hebrew thinking suggests completeness: as often as it takes. Falling is not proof that you are not righteous. Good people lose homes. Faithful families go through foreclosure. The proverb does not treat that as shocking.
Second, the difference between the righteous and the wicked is not whether they fall but what happens next. The righteous rise. The verse does not say how quickly, or how high. It simply says they get up.
Rising is usually slow
We sometimes speak of “bouncing back”, as if recovery were quick and springy. After losing a home, it rarely is. Rising again often looks like:
- Accepting a smaller rented flat, or a room with relatives, without treating it as a humiliation.
- Sitting down with a debt adviser or your lender to understand what is still owed and what the options are.
- Rebuilding a credit record slowly, one on-time payment after another.
- Letting the children grieve the house, and grieving it yourself.
- Telling a few trusted people the truth, so shame loses some of its power.
- Looking honestly at what went wrong, without drowning in blame.
None of these is dramatic. Each is a small act of standing up.
Grace for the part that was your fault
Some home losses are pure misfortune. Others involve mistakes: overborrowing, ignoring letters, a business risk that should not have been taken, or pride that refused help until too late. It is tempting either to deny our part or to be crushed by it.
Scripture offers a third way. The prophet Micah, speaking for a people who had brought trouble on themselves, said: “Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light” (Micah 7:8, NIV). The next verse admits, “Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the Lord’s wrath” — and then trusts that God will bring him out into the light. Honesty about failure and hope in God sit side by side.
What a house was never meant to be
Losing a home can also, in time, loosen something that needed loosening. Many of us quietly tie our worth, our respectability, even our sense of God’s blessing to the house we own. When it goes, it can feel like God has gone too. He hasn’t. The house was a gift, and a real loss. But your identity was never in the title deed. You are still a child of God in a rented room.
Many families who have been through this later describe a surprising freedom. Not immediately, and not without pain. But eventually they discover that their marriage, their faith, their friendships and their children’s laughter survived the move. Some go on to own again. Some decide they are content to rent. Either way, they rose.
For the church
If someone in your congregation has lost their home, avoid both silence and speeches. Offer something practical: help with the move, a meal, a lift to the advice centre, a van on moving day. Treat them exactly as you did before. People rise more easily when others are standing nearby.
For reflection
- What would one small step of rising look like for you this week?
- Is there shame you need to share with someone you trust?
A prayer: Lord, I have fallen, and the house is gone. You know which parts were my fault and which were not. Forgive what needs forgiving, heal what needs healing, and help me rise one small step at a time. Be my light while I sit in the dark, and remind me that I am still yours. Amen.
This article is general information only and is not financial, legal, tax or other professional advice. Please speak to a qualified professional about your own circumstances.
