What God Wants from Us (and the relief it brings)

“What do you want from me, Father?” 

The thought tumbled out of me in gloomy frustration as I stepped out of my house for a mind-clearing walk. I was feeling like a failure. Again. 

The thing is, it wasn’t like this one thing that went wrong was all that bad, but for some reason, when one thing goes wrong, an avalanche of memories of every other thing that’s gone wrong piles up in my head; not just from that day, but ever.

A smidge dramatic? Well, yes. Yes, it is. Perhaps it’s a hazard of a recovering perfectionist. Or perhaps it’s just being human. Either way, my head needed to get to a better place, so off I went for a walk. 

As my feet hit the sidewalk, the weather was practically perfect. A bit on the warm side maybe, but the sky was brilliantly blue, and the breeze had just the right amount of coolness in it. I knew this walk would refresh me before it was over.

But it wasn’t just the walk. It was the time to pray and think. 

Once again, I thought, “What do you want from me, Father?”

And I knew the answer before I even finished the sentence. 

The Answer We Crave

Earlier that day I had been reflecting on a theme that runs through Scripture. Actually, I think I could argue it is one of the MAIN themes that runs through scripture. You can trace it from Genesis to Revelation, and it is summarized in its fulfillment which we read in Revelation 21:3:

“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.”

I wonder if the magnitude of those lines hits as deep as it should. 

The dwelling place of God will one day be with people. 

The God of the universe, Creator of all things, King of kings, Lord of lords, Alpha and Omega, Beginning and the End, Holy and Righteous, lofty and high and more wise and powerful than we could ever imagine; this God, who lives in heaven seated on a glorious throne surrounded by myriads of myriads of angels praising His name every moment of every day forever and ever; THIS God. He is working towards an end-goal; a master plan, and that plan is to live with humans; with you, and with me. 

This is utterly remarkable. 

But this end goal shouldn’t surprise us. Not if we’ve paid any attention to the rest of the Bible.

All the way back in the book of Genesis, we learn that God made humans and He walked among them (Genesis 1:26, 33:8). Of course, we know the tragic story: that those humans rebelled against God and separated themselves from Him. Even so, God was not thwarted in His plan. Even while the forbidden fruit was still traveling through their now broken bodies, God promised a Savior who would come, and this Savior would be called Immanuel, which means God with us (Genesis 3:15).

And between the promise and the coming, we are reminded over and over of God’s master plan:

In Exodus, God says to Moses:

“I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God.” (Exodus 29:45)

In Leviticus, God says to His people:

“If you keep my statutes…I will make my dwelling among you…” (Leviticus 26:3a, 11a)

In 1 Kings, God says to Solomon: 

“Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father. And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel.”  (1 Kings 6:12–13).

God wants to dwell among His people.

He wants to dwell with them, even when they do not want to dwell with Him. Because that’s also what we see over and over in Scripture: God’s people rebelling against Him and NOT doing the things they need to do for God to dwell with them. They do not “keep His statutes.”

And yet, God is not thwarted. Indeed, He knew this would happen. Which, I believe, is why He promised a Savior all the way back in Genesis 3. 

Our beautiful Savior, Immanuel, God with us.

Immanuel came to do what man could not. He obeyed God perfectly, keeping all His commandments, and submitting so perfectly to the Father that He gave up His life as a sacrifice for us, so that He could…. dwell with us. 

God with us came so that He could dwell with us. 

This is the end goal of our great God. To create a people, to save a people, and to live with a people; His people, forever. This is the good news that we call the gospel. And it’s everything we need for every moment of every day, especially when the weight of failure threatens to bury us in despair and frustration. 

The Weight of Failure

“Failures.” They are tricky things, aren’t they? At least they are in my mind. 

Sometimes the things I see as failures, really, they are… failures. They are me failing to walk in God’s righteous ways just like the Israelites did. This is called sin. And sin is something to grieve and lament. But even in this failing, there is comfort in the gospel. Because we know that what God really wants is to be with us. And we know what extraordinary lengths he took to make that possible through His Son on the cross. All we have to do is confess and repent, and we are washed clean of all our failings. And the Lord dwells with us.

That’s right, He dwells with us even now, by His Spirit who lives in us after we are saved by the blood of Jesus. This, too, is remarkable. The master plan of our great God is still going, even now, and the Spirit of the living God lives in us. Paul reminds us of it in 2 Corinthians:

“…For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (2 Corinthians 6:16.)

God with us came so that He could dwell with us. 

And He does! Incredible. 

The Weight of Another Kind of Failure

But! Sometimes, what I see as failures really aren't failures. At least not in the true sense of the word. Some of the things I think of as “failures” are really just insecurities that come from me failing to meet some imaginary and impossible standard I invent for myself. And perhaps it’s even just my perception of how I compare to other people. I see what other people are doing right, or at least better, than me. I see everything they are accomplishing, making it look like they are stewarding their life so much better than I am stewarding mine, and I feel like a failure. 

This is where I was that day on my walk. I was feeling like I should be doing so much more, so much better, so much different, etc… you know the drill, don’t you? I’m guessing you do, because, as my husband likes to say, humans are gonna human. And we humans know the ugly beast of comparison all too well.

But even in these moments, God’s master plan brings comfort. God doesn’t want me to be like someone else. He doesn’t even want me to be like my vain imagination sometimes concocts for myself. He wants me for who He made me to be: His daughter, washed by the blood of His Son, and I can trust He will continue to do His good work, molding and shaping me into His own image by His Spirit who dwells within me.

And all that means that right now, in this moment, I can let go of my “failures”.

Sweet Relief

So, the answer to that thought on my walk the other day, “Father, what do you want from me”?

He wants ME. Only me. Me on my good days and also my bad days. Me, not just when I win, but also when I lose. Me, not just when I know what to do, but especially when I don’t. Because His power is perfected in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

And not only can I be sure that God is with me right now by His Spirit who dwells in me, but I have a hope for a future day when I will get to dwell with God in the eternal place He is preparing for all His people. A place where I will never fail again. And this hope is fulfilled, not because I will never fail. Oh, most assuredly I will! But the real truth is, HE will never fail. And so this future is sure, and the day will come when He will dwell with us.

He wants you, too, friend.

Whatever you feel your failures are today; on your best days and your worst days, and especially when you realize you are not enough, you don’t have to worry. Because Jesus is plenty good enough, and He invites you to come… and dwell with Him. 

“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)