Where Does God want Me to Live?

Where does God want me to live? How do I know the place God wants me to live at? Does God want me to move to a new place or stay where I am?

These are some of the common questions that come up in our minds as believers when we are thinking of settling down.

The fact that you want to know what God’s will is when choosing where to live shows that you love God. God is definitely pleased with you.

The place where we live matters a lot when it comes to our relationship with God. When Abraham and Lot separated, Lot chose to settle in a land that seemed better than that of Abraham. But later on we are told that the wickedness of the land where Lot settled tormented him day and night.

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Eventually, God had to evict Lot from the land he chose to save him from the destruction that was coming upon that land.

Before you become like Lot and choose to settle in Sodom, it is wise to ask for God’s direction. You never know what will happen at the place you choose to settle.

In this article, I will direct you how you can know where God wants you to settle and how you can tell when God wants you to move.

Where does God want Me to Live?

God Has a Specific Place He wants you to Live

Before you go to God to ask Him where He wants you to live, it is important for you to know that God has a specific place He wants you to live at.

God has an assignment for you and you can only be able to carry out that assignment if you settle in a particular place.

It is also important for you to understand that the place where God wants you to live at may not necessarily be the same for the rest of your life.

God chooses for you to settle in a place for a season. Once you are done with the season, God will prompt you to move to another place.

God allowed Abraham to live with his father Terah until the day God called him. After God called him, he was asked to move out of his father’s land.

Likewise, God may require us to move from place to place over the course of our lives depending on the assignment He has for us.

When God is telling you where to live, He may only tell you the country He wants you to live in. For others, He may specify the city He wants them to live in. Still for others, He may specify the city and the specific apartment He wants them to stay in.

The level of specification God gives you depends on your assignment. If your assignment is in a particular country, God may only require you to be in that country; where you choose to live in that country God will leave it to you to choose.

In the case of the missionaries that took the gospel to Africa, God told them to go to Africa but He may not have specified the African country He wanted them to go to.

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For some, God will send them to live in a land of wickedness for them to be ambassadors of light. Others God will send them to live in places of purity to fellowship with Him.

All in all, I want you to know that God wants you to live in a particular place to carry out His assignment.

How to know where God wants you to Live

Here are the guidelines that tell you where God wants you to live:

Where you are born at

Nobody ever chooses where to be born. Your parents too can’t choose where you are born because before you are born to them, they don’t know you.

It is only God who knows you before you are born and it is only Him who can choose the place you are born at.

Is it not God who chose that Jesus be born in Bethlehem? Mary and Joseph were staying at Nazareth but Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

It was important for Jesus to be born in Bethlehem. One of the reasons was to fulfill the prophecy made about Him in the Old Testament.

The place you are born at is the place God chose for you for the first phase of your life. Jesus went to Egypt for a while when He was young. He definitely had no choice but God made Him go to Egypt by speaking to His earthly father Joseph.

Eventually, Jesus carried out His mission in Israel. Jesus didn’t have to ask God where to live because He was already born where God had an assignment for Him.

Likewise, the place where you are born is the first indicator of where God wants you to stay. If God doesn’t tell you where to live, then where you were born is the most likely place He wants you to live.

Where you Study

When you start growing, time comes when you have to go to school. Where you attend school is also chosen for you.

God will use your parents to take you to school in a place that is strategic for your assignment. Moses was born in Goshen but He ended up learning in Egypt.

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It was important for Moses to attend school in Egypt because his assignment required him to be familiar with the Egyptian culture.

For the period that Moses was living in the palace of Pharaoh, He didn’t have to ask where God wanted him to live; it was provided for him.

Likewise, the place where God puts us to learn is the place He wants us to be for that season. If God never gives you any further direction about where He wants you to live, then most likely He wants you to live in the place where you attended school.

I know many of my friends who settled in the city where they attended college. Since it was expected of them to move out of their parents’ house after college, it made sense to settle where they had attended college.

If you are not sure where God wants you to settle and you are done with college, settle there until the day God will ask you to move if He will ever ask you to move.

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Daniel in the Bible was taken as a captive to Babylon when he was a teenager. He studied in Babylon and settled in Babylon. He was a righteous man but God caused him to stay in the land of captivity.

A Place of Fellowship

Being a believer, you belong to a certain fellowship. God placed you in that fellowship that you may know Him.

The fellowship is also meant to serve as a guideline to where you stay. There is no way God will take you out of a place where He can fellowship with you. After all, the whole point of God working in our lives is to restore the fellowship that we first had with Him.

Settle in a place where it is convenient for you to attend fellowships unless God has told you otherwise. If you feel a strong urge to move, you can consult your leaders in the fellowship.

God wants you to be in fellowship with Him; it makes sense to live in a place that allows you fellowship with God.

If you can access your fellowship group from where you are staying, then there is no need to move. Or you can change the house but stay in the same area.

The most important thing is that you settle in a place that you can fellowship with the believers God has put in your life.

How to know when God wants you to Move

The following are the common signs that show God wants you to move to a new place:

Conflict in your Current Place

We all hate conflict as children of God, don’t we?

When God wants us to move from where we are currently living, He may choose to use conflict to drive us away from the place.

Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden of Eden because their intentions conflicted with the intentions of God. God could no longer stay with them because He had a conflict with them.

When Abraham chose to follow God, he conflicted with the gods of his father Terah. God asked Abraham to move away from the land of his fathers. The conflict helped Abraham make the decision to move.

The same Abraham separated with his nephew Lot because their herdsmen had conflict. Hagar, the mother of Ishmael moved from the house of Abraham because she had a conflict with Sarah.

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The trend continues to the New Testament where the disciples of Jesus moved out of Jerusalem because their faith conflicted with the Roman beliefs. The persecution they faced pushed them out.

When believers were running away from the persecution in Jerusalem, they spread the gospel of Christ to the gentile nations.

Likewise, when you experience conflicts where you are currently living, it is a sign that God wants you to move.

The place where He wants you to move to may not be specific just as it was not specific for Abraham. In faith, pack your things and move. God will show you direction once you are on the way.

Assignment in a New Location

If God gives you an assignment in a new location, it makes sense for you to move to a place that is close to your assignment.

God may not tell you to move when He gives you an assignment in a new place. God expects you to use the wisdom He gave you to relocate.

The new assignment God gives you may be in the form of a promotion at your work place where you are sent to a different city that is far from where you stay.

God may have no problem with you commuting to the new city but then if you don’t want to commute you can choose to move to the new city.

For some people, God will advise them whether to move or not. If you are stuck, you can ask God to advise you.

At the end of the day, the most important thing is for you to do the assignment of God. Whether you choose to move closer to your assignment or continue living far from the place of your assignment is up to you.

Conclusion

I hope you now understand how God chooses for people where to stay. I also hope you are in a better position to decide where to stay.

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Choosing where to live is partly God’s will and partly your will. You have to work with God for you to know where to live.

May God guide you!