Dwell

Dwell: to remain for a time. To live as a resident. To live or continue in a given condition or state. Synonyms- abide, stay, reside

When we take a look at the world, our souls have many places it can dwell. As well as our minds and bodies. I think when we strip it back to its core, the reality is that that is all most people are searching for their entire lives. A place to belong. A place to abide. A place their soul calls home. And for us, that place is a Person.

A Person who empathizes. Who meets us where we are at, but doesn't leave us there. Brings healing, peace, and restoration. To dwell at His Feet, in His presence is unexplainable. It takes every part of us to choose to remain there. As the world screams for our attention in all different directions. What the world doesn't tell you is that if you'll just abide, dwell, and remain in His presence all those other distractions will be taken care of. When we dwell in His presence, our souls find home. The created being with it's Creator. The child being with her Father. Home.

The crazy fact is that He doesn't begrudgingly accept us as we dwell. He INVITES us to sit at His feet. To abide. We are actually commanded to abide.

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."- John 15: 4-5

And He doesn't tell us to abide for HIS benefit, but ours. Out of all the exhausting, unsatisfying, frustrating dead ends the world chases to find a fraction of contentment or flitter of the feeling of belonging, we can abide in Him. And it truly becomes a place of belonging because it's what we were made to be. Where we were made to reside. Even though we will never feel the utmost contentment on this side of Heaven, as long as we dwell at His feet while we're here, we will be pretty darn close.

Dwelling sounds simple. But it requires so much effort, diligence, and strength to choose to remain through every season. In a society that only stays when it's content. Jumps from distraction to distraction. Runs after that next dopamine hit in the form of a like, comment, drug, person, etc. When instant gratification and satisfaction tempts us to pull away from the Divine, dwelling becomes a fight. I imagine sitting at His feet, closing my eyes, just still. And other people coming up to me pulling my arms in every which way, screaming at me. Telling me to get up, confused at what I'm doing, questioning how I can be so still and content in a world that is the complete opposite. Let us be dwellers in a world of deserters. I want to chase nothing else but Him. And with chasing Him, everything else falls in place. The things that were idols of worry and adoration become specks of sand compared to His magnitude. Apart from Him we can do nothing and we feel it. Look at the world as they spend their lives running from fleeting things. It is a barren land, because the people aren't bearing fruit. When we dwell, the squeals of everything else quickly fades to a distant whisper. Our focus centers and life doesn't seem all that scary. You're invited to dwell in your Father's presence. Not because He feels obligated to invite you, but because He loves you and He knows you. He wants you to abide. To stay. Yes, I know, there are a million different things calling your name, but just stay a while. Let the feet that were nailed to that cross meet you with that same love today. I think we forget that His love never changes that the love He felt for us on the cross is the same love He has for us today, but that could be a whole other blog post in itself. Thank God that He made home a Person. And He loves, tends to, blesses, and protects us in more ways than we can even imagine. As we dwell at His feet and just remain there, let us not forget to give Him all the praise He is oh so worthy of. Even when all the other stresses and chaos of life are shouting, praise. When we praise, it silences any other voices that contradict Him, even our own.

"One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple"

-Psalm 27:4

I read this and think... yes. Home.