A professional athlete built a palatial eight-bedroom home where he lives by himself. His secluded house includes a movie theater, a gymnasium, a swimming pool, and a five-car garage.

The athlete told The New York Times that he doesn’t view the $8 million estate as a monument to success. Instead, he considers it to be a sanctuary from his painful childhood memories of poverty and abuse. The young man is seeking something much deeper than luxury and entertainment. “Got to get my peace,” he said.

All of us know the feeling of being overwhelmed. When the present is daunting and the past is haunting, where can we turn for release? To whom do we go for comfort and peace?

The psalmist wrote: “Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape; incline Your ear to me, and save me. Be my strong refuge, to which I may resort continually” (Ps. 71:2-3). God was his hope, his trust, and his hiding place in the storms of life (vv.5-8).

E. May Grimes’ poem captures that biblical theme.

A little sanctuary art Thou to me;
O Jesus Christ, beloved, I live with Thee;
My heart has found its everlasting home,
Its sure abiding place where’er I roam.

Few people can afford a mansion, but everyone who knows the Lord can find refuge and peace in His abiding presence.  — David C. McCasland