Directions to the Greatest Christian Vacation Destination

I enjoyed a few vacation days last month and visited the best spot for any Christian. You really haven’t lived until you’ve spent time there. Let me share a brief description and practical directions for visiting. Once you do, I guarantee you’ll make it your regular getaway.

Description of an Amazing Vacation Destination 

It’s a place of rest.

We rest when we feel safe and know all our needs will be met. The all-inclusive vacation is nice in that way. This is true of this spot too. When we enter the quiet place of God’s presence, we know we are safe, and all our physical and spiritual needs are taken care of by Him.  

The Psalmist David paints a beautiful picture of this feature of the vacation of God’s presence. He states, “the tiny bird has found a nest to lay her young.” Where? In the presence of the Lord. And so, David longed to be there as well (Psalm 84:1-3)!

A couple of bird families return each year to build their nests in our yard. But each year, they choose spots our dogs can’t reach. They want their little ones to be safe. The secret place of the Lord’s presence is like that: a spot where you can truly rest without care.

It’s a place of delight.

Rest is one thing, but a restful spot that is also packed with delight. That’s too good to be true! It’s true. God’s presence is a delightful place. David describes this feature with another helpful word picture:

“They are satisfied from the richness of Your house; 

And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights” (Psalm 36:8).

The presence of the Lord is a river of delight. A well runs dry. A glass of water is soon sipped of its last drop. But a river just keeps on bringing it. This picture captures the Lord’s delights so well. As you enter His presence, you will never run out of delight.

Consider, too, that we’re commanded to find delight here. “Delight yourself in the Lord” (Psalm 37:4). This vacation is mandatory for the Christian! The word “delight” used here is “to pamper or delight oneself.” There seems to be no end to the special conveniences and indulgences in our modern culture. But true pampering and true delight come ultimately as you enter the glorious place of God’s presence by musing on His Person and work.

It’s a place of satisfaction.

The delight we find in other gifts that God gives falls short of lasting satisfaction. Vacation in God’s presence is the only place where the delight turns into satisfaction. The ice cream spot, the remote destination, the well-earned trip to a sun-kissed island are all delightful for a time. But they don’t bring lasting joy and satisfaction. The ice cream melts, the amusement park closes, and the beach house is vacated and rented by another. But not this spot.

The vacation place of God’s presence satisfies our soul. There’s a restful experience here that puts our “wanter” to rest for good. Once again, David paints a great picture in the Psalms:

“My soul is satisfied as with fatness and richness, 

And my mouth offers praises with lips of joyful songs. 

When I remember You on my bed, 

I meditate on You in the night watches” (Psalm 63:5-6).

When you have a nice full meal, you really don’t want to eat anything else. It’s not that you don’t like other food; you just have no appetite for it at that point. The presence of God, remembering His person in His presence, satisfies our soul’s appetite. God made us to find our satisfaction here. Abide and be satisfied. So how do we get there?

Directions to an Amazing Vacation Destination

So, how do we get there? Let me share directions provided in the Psalms.

Ask for Delight

If you don’t get anything else from this little post, please get this, and practice it consistently. David had one primary prayer request. And that was that he might behold the beauty of God’s presence (Psalm 27:4). We must ask in faith to be satisfied in God.

Our Lord Jesus has born the penalty our sins deserve in order that we might enter God’s beautiful presence. This is by His grace. And to stay there and look, to be satisfied in God’s presence daily, that’s entirely of grace as well. You may say many prayers throughout the day but, like David, make this your primary one. 

“Lord, please make me know You in this time with You, and satisfy my soul by beholding Your glory in Your Holy Word. Make me drink from the river of your delights.”

This is eternal life, that we may know Him. As you draw near to Him in prayer, He will draw near to you.

Muse on His Person and Work.

Move on to the next step. Muse. Muse on the truths of God from His Word. The Bible is God’s self-revelation to us. And so, as we think upon His Words, we get to know Him. Open your Bible to the Psalms, and read what these God-ordained words tell you about Him. But don’t just read. Spend time, sweet, special time beside that stream. It will be a river of delight.

Consider Psalm 23:1: “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” Think about all the ways God shepherds you. Muse on His leading. Consider His kindness and self-sacrifice in shepherding. Think about His feeding, sheltering, correcting, and gathering. So much is there in that first phrase! As you continue to think about this, the next phrase will begin to be true in your heart. I don’t want. That’s vacation.

Move from Worry to Worship

Consider these three stages: worry, amusement, worship. Worrying is thinking about our troubles. Amusement distracts us from thinking about our troubles. In the word amusement, “a” is the prefix for “not,” and “muse” comes from the French word for think. When we go to an amusement park, we don’t think about our trials; we think about how long the line is until we say weeeeee again! That’s a normal vacation. But amusement is not good enough. 

For example, perhaps your anxious thoughts want to dwell on politics. “My elected official just made a horrible decision, and the trickle-down ramifications will destroy me!” You can choose to muse on that and worry. You can amuse yourself by scrolling through funny clips to keep your mind off the decision. But that doesn’t last.

Instead, think about the Lord as Shepherd. He has guided you to this spot in world history. Think about how the Lord is King. Yes, He controls all political leaders, their decisions, and the ramifications for each of us. He is in control. I can trust the Lord as King.

We need to move from amusement to “musement” on the glory of God. That’s where you find rest. And the more you rest in this way, the more your life will be filled with delight.

Worship in Prayer and Praise

The third stage of this destination is found when we begin to verbalize the thoughts of God in praise. Our musing turns into music. Our stress into rest.

“Thank you, Lord, for shepherding me so faithfully! Thank You, Lord, for being Ruler and King over all things. I trust You today! I trust Your leading and Your Kingship. Come and rule this earth as You rule in my heart. I will follow Your leading and submit to Your rule.”

You may turn these words of praise into a song by looking up a few songs that dwell on that aspect of God’s care. Or He may even give you a new song on the spot to voice in words and tunes of sweet adoration.

When you have made it to this third stop on our journey, your shoulders will be lighter. You will leave this time, my friend, at rest. Your vacation in God’s presence will refresh you and prepare you to face the busyness of the world’s demands. 

You may even find yourself going on vacation for a chunk of time every day. You may find, like George Mueller, that you can’t get off your knees in front of your Bible before you have “made yourself happy in your God.”