"For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God, than dwell in the tents of wickedness." Psalm 84:10

"How tempting it is to settle down, get comfortable, and escape - even fleetingly - to a worldly tent." - Cynthia Heald

How easy it is, indeed, to settle into the comfortable places this world offers. Except that, sooner or later, there is so much discomfort involved. There is no lasting peace in complacency, sin, worldly "comforts". How true I have found James 4:7-8 to be in my life:

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God, and he will come near to you."

I don't believe, even in my times of wandering, that God is ever far from me, but I do experience His presence so much more keenly when I don't push all manner of other things between us.
I have once again found myself in a place of distance from God, a place where I submit much more readily to the world's temptations and my own desires, where my resistance to the devil is low. But as I take even the tiniest step back toward my heavenly Father I immediately begin to feel my discontent replaced with His peace. As I foster once again a hunger and thirst for His righteousness, I am filled. This is God's grace: that despite my constant failure, He would immediately draw near to me when I stumble awkwardly back toward Him.

"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." James 4:6b

So today I pray for the humility to sacrifice my own agenda, to resist the seemingly gratifying temptations of this world, and to dwell at the Lord's threshold.

Peace

I believe one of the truest marks of a believer in Christ, one of the qualities that speaks loudest in today's world, is that of God's peace.
Phil. 4:7 - "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
The world gives no peace. There is war, torture, conflict, selfish ambition, broken politics, debt, impure desire, etc. - the beginning of an endless list. And we've just gotten used to worry and anxiety as a given. So when a person comes along who is not ruled by that worry and anxiety, even in the midst of heartbreakingly difficult circumstances, it is beyond noticeable. It is powerful, captivating, inspiring, and life-changing. People want, nay, are desperate to experience this peace and its Root, even though it is beyond comprehension. And it is beyond our understanding because is not something of this world which is all we know; not something born of our limited, understandable (though, at times, incomprehensible) humanity. Praise the Lord for His gift of peace, promised to us through His Spirit and NOT limited by our human choices, circumstances, or understanding. I continue to pursue it daily.