Once when I was on a small boat I began to experience motion sickness. The owner of the boat recognized my distress and advised me to fix my gaze on the shore. Keeping my eyes on something that was stable helped to ease my discomfort. During these turbulent times I find that I need to focus my mind on eternal, unchanging truth.
I find myself feeling off balance as day after day I encounter the storm of news. I am desperate for a frame of reference. Rather than the motion sickness that I felt on the small boat, my soul feels homesick. As the dark clouds gather, blinding my vision, I use the words of the Psalmist to express my longing. “How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (Psalm 84:1,2)
I think the prophet Daniel had a homesick soul. As a youth he had been taken captive and brought to Babylon. He lived through stormy, uncertain times, and yet he was known for his wisdom. The kings who ruled over him sought out his counsel. How did he keep his equilibrium? Three times a day Daniel got down on his knees and with his windows opened toward Jerusalem he prayed, giving thanks to his God. He never forgot his true citizenship. He anchored his soul with prayers of thanksgiving to an unchanging God.
Like Daniel the storms we face are real. There can be a feeling of helplessness when it seems that there is nothing stable beneath our feet. In times like this if you are relying on your own strength your heart will be filled with anxiety. But if your heart and mind are set on pilgrimage you can know a deep and settled joy. During these turbulent times I rely on a strength that is not my own as I fix my gaze on the kingdom of God where I have my true citizenship.
“One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock” (Psalm 27:4,5).
My soul is homesick for the day when faith becomes sight, but until then I will, like Daniel, find my security on bended knees praying with thanksgiving to my Heavenly Father. He is the Lord of the storm and my soul is anchored in His promises.
