The Landscape Of Your Life

Reflect on God’s Word

When you imagine your future, perhaps you see loneliness, like a barren desert. Or perhaps when you picture the future, it’s full of work and responsibilities, like a city street with bumper-to-bumper traffic.

King David, in Psalm 37:3, invites you to envision a different future: “Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.”

This goes beyond the “bloom where you are planted” bumper-sticker theology. God had given the Israelites a land and had proved his faithfulness to them over and over. No matter where they were, God was always with them. He was there in their wilderness wanderings, and he was there in the promised land. The consistent factor? God’s presence.

When the original spies were sent out into the promised land in Numbers 13, their report was mixed: Sure, the land bore amazing fruit, but there were walled cities and . . . giants! Caleb and Joshua alone were ready to take them on. But the people grumbled and cried against Moses and Aaron. The result of their grumbling was that they were not allowed to enter the land.

King David asks you to put down roots in the land God has given you, to dwell in it. Dwell is a word that suggests something that lasts, not something temporary. We are to settle in, to make ourselves at home, and then rest in the safety of God’s faithfulness. We work, but God is also working on our behalf. We see the Lord’s face instead of the weeds of loneliness. We rest in his faithfulness and love instead of wrestling with fear of relational famine.

We see this same truth in Philippians 2:12–13. The apostle Paul writes, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” We are to do good and dwell in the land; but it is not our work that ensures our security; rather, it is God who feeds us with his faithfulness. Like sheep with a good shepherd, we trust him to care for us. Whether we have few friends or many, a job we love or one that simply pays the bills, God is our provider.

When you trust in God, your perspective of the landscape of your life changes. Even if your actual circumstances remain the same, your trust in a good God to provide for you changes the way you walk through life. The mental traffic of work and worry can subside, and you can breathe again.

Maybe you’ve just moved to a new city. You don’t know anybody, and your attempts to connect with people at your new job have fallen flat. All you can see in front of you are months spent in your lonely apartment. But God is there. Maybe he is asking you to get up on a Sunday morning and check out a church down the road. Or perhaps he is opening up opportunities to volunteer with kids or invite in international students. When you see the possibilities for planting a harvest, even the desert may suddenly bloom.

Imagine a future that looks like safe green fields instead of back alleys with danger around every corner. The truth is, not only will God be with you in your unknown future, but he is already there. He knows what’s coming. He doesn’t want you to be afraid.

Release Your Anxiety

Today, consider what it might look like for you to trust in the Lord. How can you choose to do good and to dwell in the land?

Pause for a moment to reflect upon God’s faithfulness to you. God invites you to trust in him and to learn how to dwell in the land he’s given you. Ask God to show you the good you can do.

Take a moment to check in with your body. Are there points of tension or stress anywhere? As you breathe in deeply, let that breath go straight to the points of stress, and then exhale the tension.

Continue that slow, deep breathing. Breathe in healing breaths to the tight places in your body and exhale tension and stress.

Take a look at the landscape of your life now. Perhaps it is filled with craggy mountains. Maybe it’s dry like a desert or crowded with too many buildings. Consider that this is the land God has given you. As you look around you, can you see evidence of that?

It’s easy to be anxious about your future, but sometimes that anxiety focuses on the present. What mountain overwhelms your current landscape? Picture God holding your hand as you scale that mountain, or see his awesome power as he pushes it aside. Can you trust him either way?

What desert do you feel you’re currently living in? Maybe you feel your relationship with God is dry, or you can’t see through a financial crisis that’s draining you. Picture God providing oases along the way, small pools of water to give you relief. What have those moments of relief felt like? Picture God right by your side through it all.

What are the skyscrapers that loom over you? Too much on your to-do list? Too many people demanding something from you? Too many responsibilities? Take a deep breath, hold it a moment, and then release it slowly. Ask God to show you which buildings can be torn down and replaced with life-giving gardens. What can be set aside because it’s not yours to do?

Stay here with God, if you can, until you’ve heard what he wants to tell you about your life, about where you are now, and about what is ahead for you. Put your trust in this good God to provide for all your needs as you follow him.

Father, today I want to practice trusting in you. Help me to obey your commands and to learn to be faithful. Help me to understand what it means to dwell in the land you’ve given me. Give me eyes that can see my life rightly and a heart that trusts you completely. Thank you for your loving provision. Thank you for meeting me in my current landscape. Thank you for teaching me to obey you, to practice kindness, and to cultivate what you’ve given me. Thank you for promising to provide for me faithfully. In Jesus’ name, amen.

JOURNAL PROMPT: Talk to God about the landscape of your life. Describe any place where you feel God isn’t, any corner where he doesn’t dwell. Why do you feel that way? How can you remind yourself that even in these places, he is with you?