When Elohim asked Adam this question, it was about self- assessment.
One perception about our location, a/k/a, our state of mind, may be...
“…we are here in a desert place.”
Luke 9:12
Or perhaps...
“As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.”
Proverbs 25:25
Indeed, we can spend an enormous amount of energy fixated on a location.
Do you have an extreme response to a certain place? Has it contributed to your addiction story?
Safety was a root reason when it came to my destination addiction as I grew up in an abusive home. There was a constant atmosphere of terror, dread, and chaos. No matter what my mother and I did or didn’t say or do, it was immaterial. My dad could explode in rage. Things could rain down hell at any point.
Therefore, I wanted the reassurance which told me I would not be hunted.
“O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!”
Job 14:13
Where was your “safe place?”
Safety can be a powerful motivation. Did you miss that experience? Where is that place which will guarantee you will be “safe enough?”
You and I can move often in life or stay in the same spot; it doesn’t change our issues.
And it doesn’t stop many of us from running away- any way we can.
Relocation:
It’s tantalizing to believe life will be fixed “there.”
But it’s another dangled carrot.
Relocation is more of the rule than the exception these days. Whether it’s for work, family or chasing our dreams, we rarely stay in the same geographical place our entire lives. And, if we do, it seems we want to be somewhere else.
The reality is, sometimes, we need to move away from familiar settings, people, and situations in order to reach the next level of our lives. In fact, Elohim even told Abraham to relocate in Genesis 12:1:
“… ‘Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee.’”
But, again, are we looking at a location as that escape from our issues?
The Happy Place:
In that escape context, our addictions can appear. They coo seductive promises of relief. They become our happy place.
Yes, in our culture, this relaxation technique is often utilized. We visualize that pleasant spot. It doesn’t matter where it is; the goal is that we experience a calm mind, a spiritual connection and sense of deep fulfillment.
How many of us strive our entire lives to achieve that result in a vague form of happy place?
It eluded me. No matter where I moved, there I was.
It was, however, much easier to blame my misery on a concrete place and its failure to come through for me than it was to deal with myself. If my answer showed up gloriously, via a person, a place or a thing, then I wouldn’t have to face and change my painful problems. Wrong.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9
So, where are you? Are you in a battle of wills with The Almighty? Think you’ll win?
May I suggest a story for you to check out? Jonah and the whale sound familiar (Matthew 12:39-41)?
In life, we make mistakes. We even make wrong moves.
It has a lot to do with the motivation of what brought us there.
Most of us are affected by multiple locations, representing multiple eras. Motivations to escape from or to aspire to a particular locale can fuel us to become obsessed with such things as perfection, obligation, power, money, and fame, not to mention any of our other current addictions.
It’s back to our hearts.
The Heart Place:
I didn’t securely rest in Elohim being everywhere I was, whether that was a positive mountain top or a low lying valley.
“…‘the Lord is there.’”
Ezekiel 48:35
I put my own conditions upon Him. I believed He was real, close, and approving wherever my life was “on track.” However, once there was any kind of bump in the road, He was MIA.
Where is The Most High in proximity to you?
As I kept asking, “where am I?” I kept getting another question back from the Divine:
“Where’s your heart?”
It went back and forth like this, like a spiritual “Marco Polo” game.
“... ‘the LORD looketh on the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7
Elohim seemed to be telling me my uncertainties had to do with my tricky heart, not being focused on Him.
“...‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me...’”
Isaiah 29:13
I had to assess how close my heart chose to be concerning The Most High.
But this was easier said than practiced.
The Grace Place:
For years, I saw The Most High as a wrathful entity, just waiting to crush each of us at our first mistake. I was afraid to approach Him or His Throne.
Grace is a place. Hebrews 4:16 tells us to come boldly to that place.
“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
I could use my time, energy, and resources to fight what is- or I could apply His grace to what is, no matter how imperfect that reality was.
Am I in the situation, place-wise, I’m supposed to be in? I can’t say for sure.
But, in knowing I don’t know, I can go to His grace to cover it.
The emphasis needs to shift for all of us... from an addiction to destination to the Source of all destiny.
Each trip is unique, imperfect, and messy. But wherever we find ourselves, Ezekiel 48:35 still holds true:
“…‘the Lord is there.’”
Copyright © 2025 by Sheryle Cruse
