“One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.” [Psalm 27:4]
What does it mean even mean to dwell??
I asked myself that very question about a week ago.
[dwell] : to live, to sit down, to remain, to abide
Wow. For a person who’s always on the go and always trying to fill my daily schedule with too many things, the word dwell is kind of a foreign concept to me.
Yet, the Bible constantly talks about this concept of dwell.
A few questions this passage in Psalm 27 brought up for me.
How can I dwell in the house of the Lord if I’m not in heaven yet??
Because He’s given us a piece of heaven in our hearts!!! (thanks, Holy Spirit) We no longer have to find a tent to enter the presence of The Lord like in the Old Testament, but rather, we now have the ability to dwell in the presence of The Lord literally every second of every day. How cool is that!!!
How do I dwell in the presence??
I would argue that dwelling looks different than going to church or doing a Bible study with a group. Dwelling looks like getting alone with God in your secret place. Sitting down, living, abiding. ZERO EFFORT on my part. I actually have to take a step back and spend time sitting down with the Lord and just listening. It’s not natural for me because I feel like I always need to be doing something.
**DISCLAIMER: I’m not saying that Bible studies and going to church and reading the Word are bad…I LOVE all of those things and I need the Word of God in my life every single day!!! I’m just saying that sometimes it’s easy for me to get into a routine of doing a bunch of “good Christian” things without even tuning my heart into the Father.
When you’re dwelling, you’ll naturally live out of the overflow of what The Lord has given you with a supernatural ability to embrace everything that comes your way!
Last week, me and my friend Morgan went on a run and wound up at this beautiful, green tree in the middle of the open fields of Ethiopia. As were walking up to the tree, kids come running to us out of nowhere (literally I don’t know where they came from because its straight up barren fields) so we climbed the tree, played with the kids for awhile, and attempted to talk to them about Jesus.
Then, that same afternoon, I was sitting by myself worshipping and this girl walked up to me on the other side of the barbed wire fence. My natural response was to just wave and continue being in my own world, but I felt the Spirit tell me otherwise. So, I turned up my speaker, squeezed under the fence and danced with her to worship music! Turns out she knows Jesus so that’s awesome.
Both of these scenarios required zero effort on my part. I was just doing life with Jesus and these things came at me! When we’re dwelling, our eyes are spiritually open to how we can serve others.
There’s no pressure when I’m dwelling!!! God will bring up what I should pray for, what to read, who I should talk to, etc. Dwelling in the presence is such a pressure free, satisfying life. It’s not always easy—and honestly it’s a daily surrender for me to choose the Lord over myself—but DAAANG my days are 100% better when I spend my time in the Lord’s presence.
Here’s a little excerpt from my journal when I was processing dwelling:
We’re carrying an inheritance of the kingdom of God inside of us! A connector between us and the Father!! #AMAZING
Lord, HOW MUCH BETTER is it to gaze upon your beauty than the beauty of the world. HOW MUCH MORE SATISFYING is it to spend my days led by your Spirit rather than my own?!
Why do I think that other things will satisfy?? I could literally spend 10 minutes in your presence and feel WAY MORE FILLED than a whole day filled with people and other things.
Our place here in Ethiopia is seriously so amazing. I’m awestruck every morning when I wake up at how beautiful and laid back the atmosphere is here. No wifi, no restaurants, really no other people except our 39 squad mates and 20 something orphans on our compound. And the occasional shepherd kids that pass by with 30 cows roaming in front of them through the open fields of Ethiopia.
What a month to just take a step back from the hustle and bustle of the city, get outside, get in the Word, play with some kids, and just dwell in the presence of The Lord!!!
