Our Dwelling Place
Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Psalm 90:1
Think about all the houses you've lived in throughout your life. Maybe it’s just one, or maybe you've moved several times. While a house is made of four walls and a roof, the idea of home is something much deeper.
A house is built with wood, brick, or stone, but a home is built on love. It's where we're accepted and known. It's where we find refuge after a hard day, comfort in difficult seasons, peace amid chaos, and joy in the presence of the people we cherish. Home is the place where we can simply be ourselves.
Our physical address may change over the years, but the sense of home often travels with the people we love most. That's why, even after an incredible vacation or a successful work trip, there's something comforting about returning home. As Dorothy famously said in The Wizard of Oz, "There's no place like home."
Have you ever felt restless or unsettled? Have you been uprooted and forced to move around? Moses spent his life wandering through the desert with the Israelites. He knew this feeling well. He had no physical dwelling of his own. It is no accident that, in Psalm 90, Moses called God “MaOn,” or Dwelling Place, not just for himself but prophetically for us all. This reference was not only to a place to live but specifically a refuge, a shelter from danger or hardship. Deuteronomy 33:27 tells us, “The God of old is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.”
Our hearts tend to seek a home. We often find ourselves overwhelmed, drained, feeling empty, looking for rest and refuge. And God offers Himself. We can live with Him and in Him as our Dwelling Place.
We can trust God to carry us through even the darkest of days and to guide our future. He is our refuge. We can rest knowing that God is in our midst, even in the chaos. He is for us and with us. God has provided in the past and He will in the days ahead. He is faithful. He carries what we were never meant to carry alone. He is our rest.
For God to be our Dwelling Place, we must abide in Him. To abide means to remain, dwell, or stay in a continuous, intimate relationship with God. We are to spend time with God, much like we spend time with our loved ones at home. When we do, we can stop restlessly searching for the world's temporary fixes and instead lean into the deep, lasting rest of His presence. When we spend time with the Lord, everything changes!
On this side of heaven, we will always experience some sense of being unsettled. This place is not our home. Our home is eternity in heaven with the Father. That is only possible through the bloodshed of Jesus and His overcoming the grave. Through a relationship with Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, God lives in us. God is not a distant, localized building. This means that no matter where we go or what trial we face, we carry our home with us in our hearts.
I have asked one thing from the Lord; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the Lord and seeking him in his temple. Psalm 27:4
Call to Action
Do you dwell in His presence? Or merely go there for occasional nourishment or rest?
Where are you looking for a sense of security or belonging besides God? Why can those things never fully satisfy us?
How is God's presence a better home than any place this world can offer?
What does it look like to "come home" to God each day?
Digging Deeper
Read these additional verses: 2 Samuel 22:31 and 33, Job 10:12, Psalm 18:2, Psalm 23:4, Psalm 25:6, Psalm 46:1-3, Zephaniah 3:17, Matthew 1:23, Matthew 11:28-30, John 1:14, Romans 8:38-39, 2 Corinthians 6:16, Revelation 21:3.
Prayer
Father, thank You for being my refuge and place of rest. Remind me that I don't have to carry my burdens alone. Help me trust You instead of trying to do things on my own. Quiet my anxious thoughts and fill my heart with Your peace. Teach me to find true rest in Your presence each day. Thanks for being my Dwelling Place.
Copyright © 2026 Kyle Cravens