Better Is One Day - Psalm 84:10

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. 

Psalm 84:10 (ESV)

The past couple of weeks have been very difficult for me. I have missed home more than I ever have. We have had a lot of down time with it being the holiday season which has lead to a lot of time to sit around and think. While this time could be used constructively and fruitfully by praying, reading my bible, listening to sermons, etc, it has been very easy to get caught up in thinking about home and my future outside of the Potter's Field program instead. Every day it gets a little hotter here and a little more difficult to bear. Between my mental, physical, and spiritual state, I feel like I am in a desert.
Through this season that I'm in right now, God has given me a verse to hold onto: "For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness." This reminds me that I could have stayed home and went to grad school or got a job instead of coming to IGNITE, but that wouldn't have been following God's will for my life. I wouldn't have met the amazing people I have come to know and I wouldn't  have had to opportunity to grow my relationship with Jesus in ways I never knew were possible. Each day I am here, no matter what I think I am missing back home, my life belongs to the Lord and he wants me here. In that, is a daily replenishment of joy, peace, and contentment that can't be found anywhere else.
If you are going through a hard time, if you are in a place you never thought you would find yourself, if you feel like you have no control of the next thing that will happen in your life, remember that a day in the courts of Lord is better than anything you could dream of yourself. Things may seem hopeless, pointless, and maybe even ridiculous, but PRESS ON because you don't know how God might be using your circumstances to protect you, teach you, guide you, and grow you. For wouldn't we rather be doorkeepers in the house of God than dwell in the tents of wickedness?