Meditation
Written by Aubry Smith, a contemporary trainer for a Christian international non-profit organization. This is an excerpt from her article “What Psalm 84 Teaches Us About Home.”
In these times of upheaval, all our typical sources of strength can easily be sapped. No longer can we rely on our experience and understanding, for this is new territory. When our resources are insufficient, it can be terrifying. These times of chaos can lead to blessing, however, as we are forced to cast ourselves on the strength of the Lord and find that he is enough for all our weakness. The psalmist in Psalm 84 says that those whose hearts are set on pilgrimage are blessed. Our natural selves long for a home, for stability, for comfort, and for some measure of predictability. A heart set on pilgrimage recognizes that moving toward God often means leaving behind those very things. As we follow Jesus—who himself had “no place to lay his head” (MT 8:20)—we find that we become “foreigners and exiles” in this world. God becomes our place of belonging, our only true home, and this makes us foreigners in every other place in this world that we might have previously found refuge in…May we press on toward our true home, with our hearts set on pilgrimage.
Prayer
Written by Henry Baron, contemporary author of the book “Talking With God.”
I must follow you, Lord, on this journey. I must go where you went with eyes and ears wide open if I’m to change.… keep me listening, Lord of all. Let me not get lost or hide among the heedless sons and daughters of my own Jerusalem.
Pathways Press.com 