God at Home

“Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion” Psalm 9:11

Zion – Where does God dwell?  David tells us that He dwells in tsiyyon (Zion).  But what does that mean?  Did you think Zion is the same as Jerusalem?  Did you think Zion is a heavenly city?  Do you see images of pearly gates and streets of gold?  Perhaps there is a more intriguing image that you never considered.  What if tsiyyon (Zion) is connected to tsiyyah (dry land – August 22 and 23)?  What if the home of God is precisely in the parched desert of my soul?  What if God resides where I cannot survive without Him?

In my book, The Sacred Curse, I suggest that God is most real to us where we are least able.  Where we fail and succumb to our greatest temptations and fears, God is there.  Where we struggle and fret, God is comfortably present.  Where life puts us through the wringer, God washes us clean.  The curse that haunts your desert place is there to bring God’s grace into your life.

Most of us flee the desert.  We do all that we can to protect ourselves from those empty, dried out, frightening places, those dark alleys and dim stairways that crush us with guilt and remorse, that overwhelm us with anxiety and shame.  But what if those are God’s apartments and streets?  What if He is most at home in the slums of our lives?  What if Zion is the dry land?

I have traveled through some very desolate places in my life.  I find that every exit on the road I travel today leads immediately to parched land.  I have often struggled to regain my footing and tried desperately to get back on track when I realize I am face down in the sand.  I am tempted to think that God is impatiently waiting for me back on the highway, ready to remind me that I need to watch where I’m going.  That’s a lie straight from hell.  If I really pay attention to the sand in my eyes and nose, I discover that there is a gentle hand wiping away the grains.  God is right there with me, lying in the sand next to me, breathing the same stale air, feeling the same terrible heat.  He looks into my eyes and says, “This is my home too.  You must be thirsty.  Lean on me while I get you something to drink.”

Have you met God in Zion?  Do you know that He lives where you are dying?