God's Resting Place

"Arise, LORD, and come to your resting place,

you and the ark of your might.

May your priests be clothed with your righteousness;

may your faithful people sing for joy."

Psalm 132:8-9

David, man after God's own heart, yearned for God to reside in a proper temple, not just a temporary tent.  He couldn't rest and even lost sleep, so deep was his desire to see God honored in such a way.  It was David's longing to see God rightly treated and worshiped in a temple made of stone, but God assigned the task to his son Solomon due to David's life marked by war and the shedding of blood (1 Chronicles 22:7-10).

Where is God's resting place today, the proper temple where He can be honored and worshiped?  It is me and you; we are the temple of God, bought with a price and meant to exist as a holy vessel (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  What would it look like if my heart became like David's?

Invitational.  God is not a bully.  He is a Gentleman to the core, giving me the reigns to my life with the desire that I would willingly hand them over to Him. He doesn't snatch them out of my hands. When I do take such a step of submission to His perfect will, freely allowing Him access to the deepest parts of me and readily offering Him leadership, He is delighted.  It is His desire to be honored as a holy God and revered as the only One who is fit to control my life.  As I place Him in His rightful place on the throne of my life, I am beginning the process of restoration that will take a lifetime.  

It is impossible for me to find peace and fulfillment as I buck the system, working against the way God meant for things to exist.  When I invite Him into the resting place He created in my heart, the holy temple He erected through the costly sacrifice of His Son, I am taking a step toward worshiping Him in the way He was meant to be revered: With my life (Romans 12:1).  As He dwells within me and I pay attention to His presence, I'll find a transformation taking place.  As He changes me into the woman I was meant to be, I'll grow in my desire to honor Him in the way I live my life (Philippians 2:12-13) . I'll find I'm being changed from the inside out, and it all started with an invitation for Jesus to serve as my King.

When I invite God into my temple as Lord, cooperating with Him in His holy transforming work, I'll find a heart growing within me to honor Him in all I do.

Glory-focused.  I'm wired to want the attention for what I accomplish.  It's deeply ingrained in my flesh to desire affirmation from my fellow man.  It's not natural for me to do something without getting at least a bit of credit for a job well done.  

As I grow in Christ, however, I'll find a change taking place.  As His Spirit transforms me from the inside out, I'll discover a greater desire for God to get the attention for what is accomplished.  My fleshly hunger for a pat on the back by man is exchanged for a single mission: to see the name of Christ in lights and to hear His name proclaimed from the rooftops.  My labors become a love offering with my only desire being to make much of my Lord.

As God develops the heart of David within me, I'll find my focus gearing more toward His glory than mine.

Joy-filled.  When God made me, He meant for me to overflow with joy.  It was His desire that I taste unbridled happiness each and every moment.  His design included a provision for overflowing pleasure in Him to pour from within me.  The more I live in this world that is ruled by a dark lord, however, the more this joy is stolen from me, slowly seeping out as I get sucked into the darkness.

How can the joy I was meant to live in be restored to my life?  I can receive the joy that is mine by giving thanks for all that God is doing all around me.  Planting seeds of gratitude toward God cultivates a harvest of joy (Psalm 92:4-5, Colossians 1:11-12)!  And as I rest in His perfect provision, thriving in His protection, and dwelling as His well-loved child, "my heart leaps for joy!"  (Psalm 28:7)

Joy fills my heart when I give thanks for God's handiwork as I tune in my radar to His ever present help.

I live in a different age than David, but I can still have his heart beating in my chest.  When I invite God's Spirit in through faith in Jesus Christ, He'll develop in me a desire to see His name made famous and an overflow of His joy.  This is the result of God finding a resting place in my heart!

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can trust God enough to invite Him in as my Lord.

When do I keep God at arms-length, afraid of what He might find if He draws close?

How am I robbing myself of the joy He meant for me to possess by developing a cynical attitude?