God Doesn't Just Want to Bless Your Life (Monday Morning Faith)

Yesterday we talked about how big difference there is between someone visiting your home and someone living in your home. When someone visits, you enjoy their company and then eventually they leave. But when someone moves in, everything changes. You have to make room for them. You rearrange things. You consider their presence when you make decisions. Their presence becomes part of the way you live. That is the remarkable picture we find in Exodus 25. God had rescued Israel from slavery, led them through the wilderness, and brought them into covenant with Him. But He wasn't finished. He told them, “Have the people of Israel build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them” (Exodus 25:8). God didn't just want to rescue His people and bless their lives from a distance. He wanted to dwell with them.

That should change the way we think about our relationship with God. We can easily want God's blessings without actually wanting God's presence. We want Him to help our marriage, bless our children, provide for our needs, guide our careers, and get us through difficult circumstances. But God doesn't simply want to help us live the life we've already built. He wants to be at the center of it. That's why Exodus 25 begins with God asking His people to give. He wasn't primarily fundraising; He was teaching His people to open their hands and release what He had already placed in them. Then He told them to make room for His presence, and finally He instructed them to build the tabernacle according to His pattern. His presence wasn't theirs to redefine. If God lives here, He gets to tell us how to live.

There's a little detail about the tabernacle that is easy to miss but meaningful: the word “tabernacle” carries the idea of dwelling or living with someone. The tabernacle was not merely a religious building where Israel went to find God. It was a visible reminder that God had chosen to place His presence in the middle of His people. The furniture, curtains, gold, poles, and other details all mattered because the Presence mattered. The tabernacle was essentially God's way of saying, “I am here with you.” And the story keeps moving forward from there. The tabernacle becomes the temple, and eventually John tells us about Jesus, “So the Word became human and made his home among us” (John 1:14). The God who once dwelt among His people in the tabernacle came near to us in Jesus.

So perhaps the question for today isn't simply, “Has God blessed my life?” Most of us could name blessing after blessing.
The deeper question is, “Have I made room for God's presence?”

Is there room for Him in your calendar? Your marriage? Your parenting? Your work? Your finances? Your relationships? Your private life? Your future? What has God placed in your hands that you are holding too tightly? Where are you asking God to bless something you haven't surrendered to His Word?

God doesn't just want to be the God you call when you're in trouble. He wants to walk with you every day.
He doesn't just want a place on your Sunday.
He wants a place in your Monday.

God doesn't just want to bless the life you're building; He wants to dwell in it.

Prayer:
Father, thank You for coming near to me. Help me open my hands, make room for Your presence, and surrender every part of my life to You. I don't want You simply to bless the life I'm building. I want You to dwell in it and shape me according to Your will. In Jesus' Name I Pray, Amen.