God Will Dwell With Us

Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be studying the book of Ecclesiastes together, which centers on the truth that life apart from Christ is empty and vain. In its pages, we discover how to view our lives with an eternal perspective, enabling us to press into the Lord regardless of our circumstances. In this series, we seek to explore the wise principles presented to us by “the Teacher” in order to better understand what it looks like to walk in the fear and joy of the Lord even in the midst of our grief.

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“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.”
Revelation 21:3

READ:

I was sitting at my kitchen table when I read this verse. I suppose I had read it before, but it felt like the words jumped off the page that day. It was almost two years since my son died, almost a year since my second loss via miscarriage, and I was quite familiar with the longing-and-looking-forward-to-eternity part of grief. I knew that one day, all my tears and sorrows would be wiped away, but I was a woman—a mother—full of tears and sorrow. Death felt all-encompassing. I looked forward to heaven, but I struggled through the days left here on earth.

God had been weaving through my story a thread of His character, continually teaching me that He was with me. That gave me great comfort for the here and now. He had met me so many times in my deep pain and longing. Still, I wondered and longed for that future where sin and death would be no more. Because the pain was so deep, I actively avoided reading Revelation 21. Verse 4 had been so over-quoted to me that I nearly rolled my eyes at it. “Okay, I get it, sin and death will be no more. No more tears. No more sorrow.” I remember hearing myself saying internally.

So that day in the kitchen, I opened up my Bible reading plan, and I turned to Revelation 21. Verse 3 read, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God himself will be with them as their God.’” Again. Slower. Do you hear it? God, on His throne, declaring this: Finally, in eternity, God’s presence would dwell with man—He Himself, with them, as their God.

REFLECT:

Pause now, and take some time to reflect, and to consider God. Here are some questions to help get you started.

• What do you see about God’s character here? What things does He declare to be true about Himself?
• Why might it be significant for God to declare His dwelling place with His people in eternity? 

Now, take some time to reflect on your own life and story.

• Where have you seen God’s presence in your experience with loss and grief? Where have you felt alone or absent from Him?
• What gives you hope as you consider God’s presence in eternity?
• What could give you hope as you consider God’s presence now?

Lastly, take a few minutes to pray as you respond to these reflections. Praise God for the things of his character you see and notice here. Repent of the ways that you lack belief of this part of his character. Ask God to give you hope as you consider His presence. Yield to the Spirit, and ask Him to help you believe, to help you grieve, and to help you to feel hope in His presence.

Everything slowed as God sweetly pressed upon my heart this truth: God was with me, and He would always be with me. That was what was so incredibly beautiful about eternity. That’s what I could really look forward to. That’s why all of the following verses matter. And the good news for me in all of that? I knew that He was here with me now, too. Here on earth, in my brokenness, in my pain, in my longing. “O, Lord,” I responded in prayer, “You’re the goal—You’re the end game—not the lack of tears, but Your presence. Your presence is with me here, now. I see it; I see you. You, in fact, see me.” The dwelling place of God is with man. Now. And for Eternity. Amen.

STUDY:

For further study in seeing God’s character in His nearness and presence in our lives—traced from Genesis to Revelation—please consider reading and studying these verses:
Genesis 2:5-9, 15-22 and Genesis 3:8-10; Genesis 3:1-13; Genesis 3:12-24; Matthew 1:18-25; Ephesians 2:12-18; Matthew 27:32-54; John 16:4-15

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My husband John-Mark and I live in Richmond, VA, where we spend our days with college students, sharing the grace and truth that Jesus offers as He transforms their lives – and ours. I am a big fan of warm weather and the beach, meaningful conversations with those I love, and my family. These days I am in a new phase of my motherhood as I invest most of my time caring for my youngest, a sweet baby girl. The greatest honor of my life is being a mom of two with babies in Heaven.

We would be honored to share your story as a Hope Mom on our blog. On Saturdays we feature Hope Moms’ stories in order to showcase God’s faithfulness even in the midst of such deep sorrow. If you would like to have your story shared on our blog for this purpose, learn more and submit here.

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