My Place Or Yours (or, Day 34)
This weekend was a harsh reminder that this world is not our home. It is so easy to get comfortable here – I have a job, I have a house, I have a family, I have great friends – but this place is not our home. Sickness, injustice, downturns, it’s all rampant in this life. When we face those moments, we have two choices:
- Get mad at God, abandon all hope and live in the moment.
- Cling to God and the hope of all that Heaven brings.
To be honest, I find it hard to be satisfied with the idea of Heaven. It sounds great, but it’s so far away. Then the psalmist reminds me that better is one day in the House of the Lord than one thousand days anywhere else. Even standing in the doorway of Heaven is better than the best day here on Earth.
Can you imagine that?!? I have had many great days. Maybe I’m an optimist, but it seems like the really bad days are few and far between – I can probably count them on my hand. But even the greatest day we could experience, be it full of happiness and satisfaction, pales in comparison to waiting in the doorway of God’s place.
When it comes down to it, you either believe it or you don’t. If you don’t, there’s only so much you can do to make the most of this life. The reality is that from day one, our bodies are decaying. We have no way of affecting the decisions that other people make that could impact us. Tragedy strikes without warning.
But God, He is so good. He gives us grace and glory. He is our shield and our strength. I have to believe in the loveliness of His dwelling place, and I do believe that through that I will see His blessing. After all, we were created with that yearning in our souls. We can embrace it, or try and silence it with the material, withering world. Oh, what a tragedy that would be.
Editor’s note: As a self-proclaimed scholar, I realize that the “dwelling place” of God can have two meanings. One might be Heaven, but the most likely interpretation of dwelling place in this context is being in the presence of God when following His ways. For today, I like thinking about Heaven. I’ll try not to be a heretic tomorrow.