“Dwelling” is one of those words that can be a verb,
adjective or noun. I can be dwelling in a home unit (verb). I can give you the
address of my dwelling place (adjective).
Or I am looking for a dwelling with two storeys (noun). Dwelling usually
relates to our home or where we live.
There is another use for the word, and that is to refer to
deep thinking. We can dwell on many things, but often we hear the words “to
dwell on the past” in a negative context. If we’re thinking happy thoughts
about the past, we’re usually “remembering” or “reminiscing”, but if we “dwell”
in the past there’s a sense of being there, not just in a place but at a time.
“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” So sayeth
William Faulkner in a popular quote. Memories can bring us great joy as we
recall special, happy times. They can also be a source of tremendous pain,
anger, regret, shame and bitterness.
When we dwell on past experiences, we can remember the
situation we were in as if it were still happening, going through it again and
again, detail by detail, as if we somehow expect that this time it will be
resolved, that there will be an answer, that it could turn out differently. I
wish I had said that…, I could have done this…. yet always we are left with the
reality of what was. The same emotions that churned through us when the event
first happened recur.
Dwelling on negatives can have severe long- term
consequences, including depression and mental illness. Satan loves to keep
people dwelling in the past, because then they can be far less effective in the
present.
I can’t stress enough the role that a qualified counsellor
can have in assisting a person to come to terms with past hurts. Pastoral care
workers, ministers, psychologists, doctors and psychiatrists can all be sources
of help.
In addition, God has given us His Counsellor, three in fact.
God Himself is the source of all righteous counsel. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is
described as:
“He will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”
(Isaiah 9:6).
And Jesus, just before He was
crucified, told His disciples that He would send them the Holy Spirit:
“ And I will ask the
Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you
forever— the Spirit of
truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor
knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[c] in
you. “(John 14:16-18).
Christians talk about the “indwelling”
Holy Spirit. We still have our old, fallen human nature, but we also receive
the Spirit of God, which lives with us always. The Holy Spirit is a powerful,
mystical force that guides and counsels us. It can bring protection and hope in
dark times.
It can be liberating to consider that
if I now dwell on the past, the Holy Spirit can dwell there too. I can receive
God’s comfort and understanding. Jesus Christ bore every sin and shame that I
may have felt on the cross, that I might be free from sin and death.
I cannot change what has happened in
the past, but I can ask Christ into my life in the present, to live the rich
and fruitful life that He had always planned for me. I can commit the past to
Him, to deal with, for He does so far better than I ever could.
The apostle Paul, who, through the
inspiration of God, wrote a considerable portion of the books of the New
Testament of the Bible, formerly hated Christians. Following a personal encounter
with Christ Paul became zealous for God, preaching and teaching wherever he
went. He at times felt great shame for his former life, yet knew he was
forgiven. He wrote:
“Forgetting what is behind and straining
toward what is ahead, I press on toward the
goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in
Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13,14).
The Bible is full of verses that uplift and
sustain us in times of trial. Here is one about dwelling:
“27The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He drives out the enemy before you, giving the command, ‘Destroy him!’ 28So Israel dwells securely; the fountain of Jacob
lives untroubled in a land of grain and new wine, where even the heavens drip
with dew.…” (Deuteronomy 33:27,28).
