Resting Place

God desires a resting place. Psalm 32:14 says, “This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it” (NKJV). In this verse, He is speaking about Jerusalem. Jerusalem was at the center of the land. It was the place of meeting. It was a “resting place” for God. In 1 Corinthians 6:19, God declares that we are now His temple. We are the new resting place … if we will allow Him that space. What does that mean that God desires a resting place in us?

He is a Father. In my study of the spiritual gifts, I have found a significant crossover between the idea of father as provider and the spiritual gift of giving. Many times those who love to give are “spiritual fathers” or “spiritual mothers.”

What makes them that way? What causes them to be adopted by the church as the church mom or church grandmother? The answer is that they live to give. They are searching for a “resting place” and that resting place is found in the form of blessing “children.” And it is not limited to money. Giving is a much broader term. It is best described as mothering or fathering.

Our God is a Father. He is a provider and nurturer. He desires to partner with us in a way that He has a resting place in our lives. We make a place for Him when we embrace Him, when we honor Him and have a desire to carry out His will. He “rests” in us when we become children who want to be like Him in every way, when we take on His heart and His mission.

That does not mean that we lose our identity. The best fathers know that each of their children is unique. A good father does not mask his children’s identity, nor try to put it into the straightjacket of his own ways. Rather, the father is like the light bulb shining through unique colors of a beautifully colored lamp. The father provides the confidence and the energizing the child needs to shine.

When God is restricting us, it is generally because we are trying to live life outside of partnership with Him. We were never designed to live that way. When we go our own way, it creates perversion and disaster. Our design is to be connected to Him. His nature is to be the father/provider/energizer. He desires a resting place.

In Isaiah 28:12, it says, “To whom He said, ‘This is the rest with which You may cause the weary to rest,’ And, ‘This is the refreshing’; Yet they would not hear” (NKJV). When we provide God a resting place, it results in us receiving of His rest. This passage is in the middle of the verses that talk about God laying down lines of code into us … line upon line. As God rests in us, He builds into us new and unique layers of beauty that can only be built into us through life choices. As we embrace Him, He grows us in our created beauty.

Are you a resting place for God? Do you allow Him to guide you? Do you interact with Him at a level where you are continually receiving from Him and being energized by Him? God desires a resting place. Will you bless God today by fulfilling His heart’s desire?