Find Your Place - Martin Wiles

I will not let my eyes sleep nor close my eyelids in slumber  until I find a place to build a house for the Lord. Psalm 132:4-5a

As we sat around the table, we watched, wondered, marveled, and reminisced.

Prior to the beginning of school each year, teachers, along with board members, invite the graduating seniors to join us for lunch. Most of us have taught them at some point—or will teach them their senior year. Some of us have fond memories—and some of us have war stories.

On this particular year, I had taught most of these seniors in middle school. Back then, they were coming into their own, developing mentally, socially, emotionally, and physically. Some breezed through middle school while others struggled—in more ways than educationally.

Now, they hung on the verge of graduation. A part of the lunch ceremony is to have them approach a microphone and share their plans. Some of the plans surprised me while others did not. I had seen the talents even in middle school.

Some, however, confused me. Middle school hadn’t seemed to challenge them as it does many students. They were organized and focused. But now I listened to them say, “I don’t know what I want to do.” And others, “I don’t know where I want to go to college.” 

As time passes and my former students make their way into the world, I’m always amazed at how they end up. Most surpass my wildest dreams for them. And the things they struggled with during the growing years, they conquer. They find their place.

David, the psalmist, discovered his place. God wanted him as king of Israel. And David wanted to build a permanent dwelling place for the Ark of the Covenant—the symbol of God’s presence with His people. Although David’s son was God’s chosen person to build the Temple, David assembled the materials he would need to build it.

God makes no mistake in placing individual people on this planet. He has a plan for each of us, and our lives will never be complete—and we’ll never be satisfied—until we discover what God wants us to do, and then do it. If we search, God will reveal His plan. He’ll also provide the means for us to get what we need to accomplish that plan. 

And always in the mix of the plan lies our responsibility to share His love and expand His kingdom. So, go ahead, find your place—and find peace.

Tweetable: Have you found your place? 

Prayer: Father, show us Your plan that we might live out the life You have planned for us.

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