You Are Here!

Amusement parks, large shopping malls, and other public places post maps on their grounds for their customers or clients to use, to get from one location to another. The words, "You are here," identify where your journey starts and shows the relationship between where you are and where you want to be. It is comforting to know "where you are," and it is comforting to be able to check as you progress towards your destination and goal. I have used many such maps to find my way when I was feeling lost. I still recall the relief and satisfaction that came with knowing that I was about to reach that desired place.
In my spiritual walk, I have longed for such a map, in order to navigate away from my troubled circumstances towards happier, brighter skies. I would love for God to shine a blinking, neon light on my dark days that read, "You are here." I would love for yet another source of light to disclose the path that would lead me from "here" to "there." Psalm 30:5 says, "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." God guides us from the weeping night of "here," into the joyful mornings of "there," the place He wants us to be. The Word of God is the only map we have; it is also, the only map we need. Faith in God's word is the light we so desperately desire in dark times. The promise in God's word is, "You are here." You are in a dark place weeping, but I am going to take you to a place of "light and joy." Lord, teach me to count the dark places...joy. I may be in a dark place, but You will not leave me "here."