Our Dwelling Place

"We dwell"

1 John 4:13

Both my sisters are going camping this week.  Not together ~ just a coincidence, I guess.  Which is good.  If they were planning a camping trip without me, I would be not be happy.   Probably crash their party.  =)

No, they are both going with their families, one to Yellowstone and one to the Lake Tahoe area.  One of them has already left, and sent a photo of the view from their tent. 

Gorgeous, isn't it?

Here's one from our trip last year.

Okay, several...

It's such a stunning place to live, and always hard to leave.  You'd think, someplace that beautiful, why would anyone want to leave?  We live there, but only for a week, and then we return to a place less beautiful, but more practical.  

So I'm thinking today about dwelling.  Abiding.

In Genesis 21, we see the story of Hagar, handmaid of Sarah, concubine of Abraham, mother of Ishmael, coming to its conclusion.  Hagar had been sent away by Sarah ~ well, actually by Abraham, because apparently Sarah wore the pants in the family on this issue.

Hagar wandered in the desert until the water she had brought with her was gone.  Then she put Ishmael under a bush, and went a short distance away, to wait for both of them to die.

But the angel of God called to her to reassure her.  And then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well.  Spurgeon tells me this is the well of Lahoi-Roi.  She gave her son a drink from that well, and he did not die. 

This well, Lahoi-Roi, or Lahai Roi, or Lahairoi, is mentioned again in Genesis 25.  But here, we are told that Isaac dwelt there.  And that word is important. 

To dwell means to stay, to remain, or to have one's abode.  It's not a temporary thing. 

Why did Hagar not dwell there?  She was saved at that place, by an angel of God.  At that place, God revealed salvation, for her and her son.  Why did she leave?  Isaac dwelt there; why didn't Hagar?

Was it because she was alone, and didn't have the ability to make it a viable place to live for herself and her son, the way Isaac was able to?  Sort of the same reason we come home from camping.  That beautiful spot in the mountains doesn't have what we need to sustain us.  It would take a lot of work before we could dwell there for longer than a week.

Spiritually speaking, however, we are able to make the choice that Isaac did.  We can dwell with Him.  We can abide in Him.  Why?  Because He abides in us.  He has given us His Spirit, and we don't have to ever be apart from Him. 

He is our source, and our life.  We need never thirst again.

~ "we dwell in Him,

and He in us,

     because He has given us His Spirit" ~

1 John 4:13

~