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A Place of Rest
By Marc | December 25, 2007
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O LORD Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young-
a place near your altar,
O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you. – Psalm 84:1-4
Over the last few days, after crossing the state for Christmas visits, as is the case whenever we travel, we were glad to come home to sleep in our own bed. Our bed is by no means the best model nor our mattress or box spring the newest and most luxurious, but the bed is ours and that in itself makes it the very best.
Our bed often acquires both sons (who like to stretch out) during the night, making the act of sleeping something that requires the talent of a contortionist. We wake up sometimes with our legs asleep because a 4-year-old has used them for a pillow. We balance precariously at the edge of the bed with around twelve inches of our own (and six inches of blanket) before plummeting 2 feet to the hard floor below, because it’s a better alternative to moving the child with his feet in your back (and risking him being awake for an hour or two).
Our bed is not perfect, our sleep is not always comfortable, but we are safe, we are home, we are at peace. Our bodies know every lump in the mattress. We know this is the place we should be.
There are millions of people in the world with no physical bed to call their own, no home to go to. People who wonder where their next meal is coming from and where they will spend tonight. Will it be at a shelter, an under an overpass, at the home of a friend or kind soul, or sharing the bed of a stranger? Or will they sleep at all, occupied with protecting their few possessions?
There are also millions of people with no spiritual place to call home. People who look for fulfillment in drugs, drinking, eating, shopping, gambling, violence, the bed of a stranger, and any number of things. People who have joy that never lasts, wondering where their next fix will come from, where they will feel normal or loved for a little while more.
I don’t want to sound preachy, but the things of the world do not last. I have sought fulfillment in excessive drinking, pornography, possessions, smoking, my own ego, and probably a bunch of other things that I’m not even aware of. I am constantly changing and becoming more refined in who I truly am, and I think that my life with Christ has freed me to be that person rather than confined me.
I think that I had always thought that being a Christian would restrict me and make me lose my ability to think. I sought purpose in various things, but I think the most dangerous place to hide was my “rational” mind that created a version of the unseen that I was comfortable with. I was pretty much homeless in that aspect. I was alone, probably wrong, spiritually broke, but darn it, I had my independence.
By the Grace of God, I have a home in addition to my physical house and family. God provides a family and a home in His church. Fortunately, the church I belong to strives to be the church that Jesus created.
Your church may not be perfect and may not fit you just right. That doesn’t mean that the perfect church for you doesn’t exist. Some people prefer to be told what to think while others like to be challenged. Some like a church “on rails” while others want humor and anecdotes. Some like contemporary songs in worship, some like traditional hymns, and some would just as well get rid of the singing altogether.
But wherever you end up (or don’t) you always have a home with the Maker. Rest your head on the Word and cover yourself in Mercy. This is the only home that fills completely. Fills the emptiness, fills the hunger for meaning, fills the loneliness, and fills the hole in your heart that the world could never hope to.
In my own experience, the temporary shelters of new age philosophy and various world religions don’t hold up to the peace, hope, meaning, and clarity I experience with that which is build upon a rock.
Read the parable of the lost (prodigal) son. You have a home even if you’ve left it or have never been there. Your father is waiting to welcome you with open arms. A life in Christ isn’t perfect, isn’t always comfortable, but you are safe, you are at home, you are at peace. Look deep. You know it is the place you should be.
Topics: Encouragement, Faith | No Comments »
