Rearranging the Furniture

“LORD, how they have increased who trouble me!… I cried to the LORD with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill. I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustained me. I will not be afraid…” Psalm 3:1, 4-6

I have a friend who is always moving things around in her house. The couch gets puts along a different wall, the chairs are repositioned, the knick-knacks are traded out by season.

Not me. I rarely move anything. I find a good spot for it, and there it stays. It works for me.

In this Psalm, David is very troubled. His son has risen up against him, and has taken huge groups of people with him in rebellion. We can picture David pacing in worry, his leadership questioned, his security threatened, grieving because his hopes and dreams for his son have crashed.

David cries out to God. Aloud, with his voice. And he knows God hears him.

Then he does the impossible: he lays down and sleeps. This is when the Spirit of God moves—when David demonstrates his absolute trust in God. He had cried out, had surrendered and let it go.

With David sleeping and out of the way, God has a chance to rearrange the furniture of David’s mind.

Everything is different when David wakes up. He is not only refreshed in the physical realm (a good night’s sleep will do that for you!), but he no longer fears these thousands upon thousands of rebellious people. He has fresh vision and resolve, because the Spirit has clearly rearranged the thoughts he was having. He has a new perspective, a new confidence, a new boldness.

We know, as David knew, that our bodies are the dwelling place of God. This house periodically needs the furniture rearranged by the Holy Spirit. He may move that ottoman, once meant to rest our weary legs but has now become only an unnecessary prop we keep tripping over. He may change the location of the pictures on the wall, the things that decorate our life and bring us joy, to new locations where we will see them again. He may remove that comfy easy chair we slip into so often and do nothing. He may move the couch so we can see things we formerly enjoyed but now have lost track of, things that slipped out of our hands unknown, that have been buried, unused, out of sight. He may dust and clear out cobwebs, giving us a fresh vision and new resolve.

Now the house is ready for the new thing. The new ministry, the new calling, the newly revealed purposes of God. We have a new outlook, where things are bright and hopeful. We are ready to receive new guests, to reach out to new people in new ways.

We can trust God to do this work in us. He is able, certainly, but He is also willing.

 Spirit of God, rearrange the furniture of my life. Renew my thoughts that have settled into places of pride, or fear, or resistance, or rebellion, or disuse. Revive me with confidence in You in all things. Amen.