FIND YOUR PLACE

“The Swiss psychiatrist Paul Tournier, said: “Every man needs a place to be.” A place where we’re secure. A place where we belong. A place that is comfortable to us. Every person needs a place of some kind.

In Psalm 84, David captures the heart cry of all men when he writes:

How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.

…My favourite translation is in The Amplified Bible:

My soul yearns, yes, even pines and is homesick for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out and sing for joy to the living God

After Adam’s sin, man became a wanderer, a gypsy, a pilgrim. His place in perfect fellowship with God was shattered. His home in the garden denied. A great angel was put at the door to deny him entrance. Ever since then man has been a wanderer – striving to discover who he is and where he belongs.

No baby is born peaceful. Babies are born grasping, looking for a place. We grow up restless. We can’t stay still. We have to jump up and find the waitress. It is the spirit of the wanderlust.

Not being able to find our place in God, we try to localize Him. We build buildings and call them “houses of God.” Unable to have a personal relationship, we insist on formalized prayer, bowing our heads, closing our eyes, going into the chapel, dropping on our knees – trying to nail God down for a few minutes so we can have a temporary place.

…It is the story of Everyman – always looking for his place.”