Okay, let’s stretch a little and use some imagination. Suppose you received that message on your smart phone or email. Looking beyond the earthly trappings – a church house, your bedroom or office or favorite nature connection – what does the “usual time” and “usual place” for a meeting with God look like?
I daresay for most of us, me included, we become Saints in the Presence of a Busy God. We pray, we worship, and we listen to a God who’s gettin’ it done. And on our best days, we come in faith that He will actually use us to help execute His plan and that He will get some things done for us.
Anything wrong with that? Absolutely not. After all, our God has unlimited power, knowledge and presence. And He invites us to trust Him to use it and to join Him in effecting His plan – His work. See if you can relate to some of these “meeting places” with God.
The Sidelines
The clock’s ticking down, the game is on the line, the team is tired and your opponent is tough. So you call a time out and head to the sidelines to talk to the Coach. You need a fresh idea. Maybe a little scouting report from the press box. Some encouragement, and certainly a squirt of energy. You need a breather, and that’s what your meeting with God is. Time to call a new play, and He’s the one making the call. Then the whistle or buzzer sounds and it’s showtime again.
The Customer Service Department
This is where you go to ask for help or to file a complaint. The “product” isn’t working like you thought it was supposed to. Or you’re happy with it, and want to order twelve more just like it. Or you’re checking in on the order you made last week. (Too bad prayer doesn’t come with a tracking number.) Now before you object, remember that God invites us to call on Him and let Him show us great and mighty things (Jeremiah 33:3). Jesus said, “Ask and you shall receive” (Matthew 7:7).
The Trauma Center
This is where you go in times of crisis or where you take your deep wounds. It’s an emergency and you need help above your pay grade or level of expertise. You need a heart specialist or somebody who can stop the bleeding. So you come to the Great Physician, knowing of His power to heal sick bodies and broken hearts and fractured relationships. You brace for that little talk about changing your lifestyle, but first you need Him to heal the hurt. And guess what? He promises to do that.
The Strategic Thinktank
This is the meeting of the missional, where great minds consult with THE Great Mind to carry out His strategic advance. There are objectives to be realized, cultures to be conquered, teams to be assembled and tasks to be accomplished. In an ever-changing world, the rules are always evolving, and you need wisdom, imagination, and new vision. And God promises that wisdom to all who seek to follow Him.
The War Room
This is where the enemy is targeted, armies are dispatched, and news comes in from the battlefield. It’s here that the Commander-in-Chief hears of new attacks and launches new offensives. It’s here that you report your casualties and ask for reinforcements. It’s also here that you’re outfitted for battle (Ephesians 6:10-20). And make no mistake about it – prayer is one of your offensive weapons.
Another View
All those images have one thing in common – God is alive and on the job. He’s active and busy. But the Bible presents another image – one that if you can grasp it, can revolutionize your meetings with God. Check out this language from Psalm 132:
Let us go to his dwelling place!
Let us worship before his footstool!
Ascend, O Lord, to your resting place,
you and the ark of your strength! (v. 7-8)
A little background: This is one of the songs of ascent, sung by people as they journeyed up to Jerusalem, and/or up Mount Moriah where the temple was, or up the temple steps. This psalm was written as a reminder that the place they were going up to – the temple – was the fruit of David’s vow to make the house of God his first priority. More important than his own rest or home, David wanted to create a habitation for the Lord.
Then in verse 7, they declare, in effect, “I want to go to that place! I want to go to that place that was built as a habitation for the Lord as a first priority.”
Historically this refers to the moving of the Ark of the Covenant from its days of wandering and temporary locations to its “place of rest” on Mount Moriah. And as Solomon dedicated the temple, he used the same language – “Arise, O Lord to Your place of rest!”
So where does that put us? Not in a nerve center of activity, but at His footstool. In a place of submission at God’s resting place.
The psalmist said he wanted to worship like David did. He wanted to be in the presence of God when God was in his place of rest. He is not contending because the enemy has been defeated. He is not “working” because the work is completed. He is no longer roaming or moving from place to place because He is at home. He is on His throne, and the worshippers are before Him in His rest.
It is one thing to worship a busy God. It is another to worship a God at rest. In New Testament terms, this means worshipping out of a heart in which the Lord is not contending, but seated and resting in a place of complete authority.
Worshiping a God at rest means recognizing that when Jesus was being crucified and cried out, “It is finished!” every other act of God flows out of that position. That Jesus has been given the keys to death and the grave. That even war rooms and trauma centers are places where He has undisputed authority and reigns in unimaginable peace. And that anything you ask Him to do, in His economy and eternal timetable, He has already done.
This is not taught – it’s caught. But maybe during this season we can catch it afresh. The battle really is over. The work is done. The crucified, risen, Lamb of God has once and for all sat down at the right hand of God’s power and authority. And when we come to Him, we can come to His footstool.
How would it change your faith and sense of expectancy if, when you came to your Heavenly Father in times of need, crisis, pain, battle, or uncertainty you came to the footstool? To a place where the issues were already taken care of?
He’s already propped his feet up. Don’t you think you can find some rest – and power and authority – there, too?
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Loved the imagery of sitting at the footstool of our God at rest. Such a calm and comforting place to be . . .
Blessings, Andy!
Martha Orlando´s last blog post ..Spring Cleaning
Great post. This is a good reminder. Sometimes we feel unsure and/or panicked but God is not like man; He has completed His good work and closed the book. I am so thankful to serve a God like that. Thank you for sharing and may God continue to bless you and your ministry.
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