“How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of Heaven’s Armies,” and to spend one day there is better than one thousand elsewhere. There is a song that is playing in my head and it resonates the truth of this psalm. Listen to it HERE.
When I imagine time with God in his courts, such peace and joy fill my heart. Take a moment to imagine that for yourself. Imagine being showered in contentment, peace, joy, and abundance.
We can rest daily in the promise of this place as our home, our destination. It will ground us. I think of it as taking a cleansing breath during exercise. It’s easy to just take shallow, quick breaths. When we fully fill our body with the life giving air, we can then experience the joy of God’s presence. Take a moment now to just breathe in slowly, imagine God’s love for you, hold it for a moment, and then slowly release. Do that as often as you need to during the day to feel grounded, alert, and blessed.
We don’t need to wait for that day when we enter the courts of heaven. We can experience communion with God every day. God walks alongside us, we just need to open our eyes, fall to our knees, and just BE WITH GOD. Here. Now. “What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord.”
The evil one will do his best to get in our way, to burst our joy bubble. He’ll crowd our heads, fill up our schedules, whisper doubts. We need to be ready for this and be intentional in finding our time to rest in God’s presence. We need to yearn for that peace so that there is nothing more important, no voice or distraction that overrides our desire for God.
Are your priorities out of whack? Do you yearn for time with God? It’s okay, you are not alone. Read the psalm again, and this time, take slow deep breaths in and out. Slow down. Rest in Him.
Let’s pray. Lord forgive me when I rush around and neglect time with you. Thank you for the reminder today in your word, blessed is the one who trusts in you! Give me strength to stand up to the evil one who is trying to control my schedule and lure me into activities that draw me apart from your courts. Help me sort through all of the things pulling me this way and that, consuming my thoughts. Wash over me with your peace. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
