Reflections on Refreshment from Psalm 84 – Tip #3

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Tip # 3 – Make the Lord your home

The Psalmists wrote, “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.”

I have lived in many houses. When my husband Steve and I were first married we lived in a parsonage – a house that belonged the church where we were serving.The house was old and the mice were many.It was a battle with the mice till the day we left and most days it felt as though the mice were winning! From there we moved to Khartoum, Sudan, East Africa. Our apartment was hot (many days 120 degrees). Often the electricity went off, meaning we couldn’t use our fans and the water pump wouldn’t pump the water to our upstairs apartment. It was challenging, to say the least to live in that type of heat without water being available. There were no mice but lots of lizards! In both situations, I had a hard time calling our living quarters, “home.”

Home is where you can escape from the chaos of life and feel comfortable. In Finding Calm In Life’s Chaos, I wrote, “We all long to have a place we can call home, a place where we belong.” (Navpress, p.108) Women have a strong nesting instinct. We know intuitively that not every house is “home.” As a result, we take very specific steps to transform our houses into homes.

he sons of Korah, who wrote Psalm 84, say that even the sparrow and swallow, two tiny birds, have found homes or nests for themselves. Where are their homes? Near to the heart of God. What does it look like for us to nest in a spiritual sense – to make God’s heart our home? For me, I take intentional steps. When I’m traveling and missing my family, I remind myself that God is near. In those moments I talk with Him. When sleep won’t come because I’m staying in a hotel and the pillow is not quite right, I visualize myself resting my head on the Almighty’s chest. There, the comfort of His presence puts me to sleep. When I feel weary, I imagine myself snuggling up in God’s arms. There I hear the rhythm of His heart and He sings a love song over me.

No matter where I am or, what my circumstances are I can feel at home. because God is my true home!

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