“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” Psalm 118:24
I ran into my friend from church this morning and we were talking about dissatisfaction and the wandering spirit.
In the Bible, wandering is a punishment and a separation from God. Cain was judged after murdering Abel and sentenced to wander (Genesis 11 4:16). The Israelites wandered through the wilderness until they could learn to listen and obey the Voice of God (Joshua 5:6).
We moved around a lot when I was kid so I’ve always had a bit of a wandering spirit. Learning how to be planted and content in one place has been difficult for me. The wandering spirit is nearly sanctified out of me after many years of prayer and wrestling and well; wandering.
One word has really helped me in recent times to be happy and content in one place…”this”.
We had friends visiting with their teenagers during the school holidays. I (stupidly) asked the 15 year old son,
“What are you guys doing for the holidays?”
He shrugged his shoulders and said “I dunno….this”.
This.
This is the holiday. This is your life. This is it.
This is the day that the Lord has made.
We can waste so much time waiting for our circumstances to change until we feel peace and contentment. We always think we are building up to some ideal life but we forget…this is our life. This.
And when I ask God on my morning walks what He wants me to do today sometimes he just answers…This. Be present. Enjoy your walk. Enjoy the music you’re listening to. Enjoy nature. Just be here and do this. Rejoice and be glad in it.
Grumbling and dissatisfaction caused a generation to die in the wilderness wanderings. Harking back to Egypt and “it was better before” triggered the fury of God. God had to take them the long way around so they wouldn’t return to the slavery of Egypt when they faced challenges (Exodus 13:17).
God wants you to be planted in your job, in your family, in your home and sometimes, we have to go through a wilderness time or two to get the Egypt slavery out of us. But if you want to enter the Promised Land of planting, milk, and honey- stop wandering and start rejoicing and being glad for…this.
Lighthouse Keeper 
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