Psalm 84:1-12
Circumstances mattered, of course, but meaning mattered even more.
What is the meaning of life?
The problem is that we expect to find it where it will never exist.
It's the blessed life.
Life is not merely about arriving somewhere or accomplishing something.
1. LIFE IS MEANT TO BE A PILGRIMAGE
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
It is a journey of the heart into the presence of God.
We know how to make a living, but we don't know how to make a life.
The journey of a lifetime is toward God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.
How can we organize our lives in such a way that we're always moving toward God?
2. ON THIS JOURNEY WE’RE SURE TO ENDURE THE VALLEY OF TEARS
As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
We were made to thrive, too, even when life is barren.
But it will also be place of strength, and healing, and even a place of blessing.
As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs ...
When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs.
God can transform the valley you walk through into a refreshing spring.
You will have a difference-making impact.
Yet every valley he endured became a place where God worked and he thrived.
The prison that should have broken him actually positioned him for influence.
It's a chapter in the journey, but not the final chapter.
The promise is that God keeps supplying whatever is needed for the next step.
3. THIS IS WHERE WE LEARN WHAT MATTERS MOST
As we walk with God, we begin to discover what truly matters.
This makes it easier to choose our next step.
Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
Because every day without God is miserable.
The pilgrimage teaches us that what matters most in life is not comfort or convenience.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them
that walk uprightly.
What does the sun do?
And we know that the night won't last forever.
I believe in the sun, even when it is not shining.
I believe in love, even when I do not feel it.
I believe in God, even when He is silent.
He is with us along the way.
Only one pursuit in life matters.
In which direction is my life currently pointed?