Wherever You Go

Being so far away from home has been a little more difficult for me the last couple of days. I have a stomach bug of some kind and I've let myself get run down physically. That, coupled with the initial rush of excitement of being back in Africa waning, and the realization that I've only just begun my journey here has resulted in a state of melancholy descending upon me like a thick cloud. As if that weren't enough to get me down, there are real clouds here – it's raining again.

I'm taking Cipro to handle the bug, but they don't make a pill that can help with the emotional turbulence I'm experiencing. The truth is I often struggle with being content. I'm reminded of the old country music song that says, "Wherever you go, there you are." The point of the song is that if you are basically an unhappy person, changing locations won't help (at least not for long). Likewise, if you are unhappy in your marriage, or in your job, or with your church – the problem may not be with "them," but with you. Happiness – a personal sense of well-being and peace – is an inside job. Externals won't provide it; in fact they can't because that's not how God meant it to be.

Last night I took great comfort from Psalm 63. This Psalm was written while David was alone and hiding out in the barren desert of Judah. He was pining for home, for his own bed and home cooking, and his wife. But what he was missing were actually symptoms of a deeper need he had; his need for God. As he recites this Psalm, which is essentially a prayer, you can sense the truth dawning on him that what was missing from his life could not be filled by human companionship, or by going home, or by anything else. Nothing that is, except for God.

"O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water…"

The Psalm then turns to praise…

"Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you. I will praise you
as long as I live, and in your name I will
lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied
as with the richest of foods; with singing
lips my mouth will praise you…"

If you woke up this morning feeling lonely, weary, stressed, or thirsty for something missing in your life, remember this: wherever you go, there you are. You need a change on the inside. Turn to God and trust him to help you. When you do, perhaps you'll discover what David did – and what I did last night; that your sorrow can turn to joy, and that your tears will give way to joy and praise as you enter God's presence and are transformed.