Knowing where to settle...

Have you ever had to make a decision about “where to be”? Perhaps you needed to decide where to live, or which job to take, or which church to join...

One of my personal values is to make every decision though prayer and hearing God’s voice. I truly believe that Father God is the one with sufficient wisdom to guide us in our decisions about where to settle. But that doesn’t mean that practical criteria aren’t important too, and this morning in my daily Bible reading I came across one little sentence that explained how some descendants of Simeon made their decision about where to live in the Promised Land. In 1 Chronicles 4 verse 40, it says, They found rich, good pasture, and the land was spacious, peaceful and quiet.

In deciding where they were going to settle down, these were the important factors:

• good pasture: Would they, their families and their animals be well fed there? Would there be an adequate source of provision?
• spacious: Is there room to grow, space to fit in and opportunity to be fruitful?
• peaceful: Is there freedom from contention, and room for healthy community relationships?
• quiet: Will there be “rest for your soul” in this place? Will you find sufficient space for personal renewal and “sharpening the saw”?

Seeking a peaceful and quiet place didn’t mean that these settlers were looking for a lazy and uneventful life. They were still ready for action and adventure, and just a couple of verses later (1 Chron 4: 42) they invaded the hill country and defeated the Amalekites. They were still ready to do battle when needed, but they had clear criteria about what their home settlement should look like.

These four things could also be good criteria for us, whether we’re deciding where to live, what church to join, what job to apply for or which ministry team to be part of.

Just next to my front door, there's a little picture of a cat watching the sunrise. You'd think it was my Tamba, down at the Costa del Sol. I've printed a Xhosa word on the photo, and I see that word every morning when I'm heading out the door for the day. It says Thembalitsha - which means "new hope" - and it's a reminder that every new day brings new aspects of hope and promise for the future. One of my own criteria for where I "settle," live and work is that it's a place that reflects God's promise in Jeremiah 29 verse 11: there is a future and there is hope.