To Dwell or To Settle?

After a little hiatus, I have picked up my copy of You're Going to be Okay by Holley Gerth, and as expected, it caused me to pause as she mentioned something that intrigued me.  At the end of chapter 6, she talks about how we are not meant to settle in the places of hurt: the desert, the hard places, depression, fear...We are not to settle anywhere but in the center of all God has for us. Then, she says:  "You aren't created to settle.  You're created to dwell." (129)

hmmmm...

I know that I might be straying away from the core message of this chapter here, but I love words, so I was puzzled.  What's the difference between to settle and to dwell?

I'm not an English native speaker, and of course, many things about the English language confuse me; but I want to know what she really meant?  I really want to know!  I think the author is inviting us to do something profound here, and I don't want to miss it.  After comparing definitions...I don't think I'm any clearer, so I think I need help from those who have been speaking and thinking in English since birth, because I believe that the difference resides in the connotation of the terms, not so much in the conceptual or denotative meaning. 

To dwell in the Old Testament usually is a translation of words that mean to sit down, and also to abide, to inhabit, to remain.  In the New Testament the most frequent meaning is to abide.  (https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/eastons-bible-dictionary/dwell.html)  According to the same source in Bible Study Tools online, to settle denotes fixedness.  In the Old Testament, to settle points to a condition of absolute quiescence, as the settlings on the lees (Zephaniah 1: 12, Jeremiah 48: 11); and in still another place it means packing solidly together (Psalm 65: 10).

"Settling on the lees..." that made me even more intrigued... "Men settled on their lees" (Zephaniah 1: 12) are men "hardened or crusted." The image is derived from the crust formed at the bottom of wines long left undisturbed (Jeremiah 48: 11). The effect of wealthy undisturbed ease on the ungodly is hardening. They become stupidly secure." (http://biblehub.com/topical/l/lees.htm)

WOW!

So I guess...even though both words have similar conceptual meanings: to be established, to remain...the connotation of to dwell is never negative and it's mostly associated with God's choice to inhabit within close proximity of His children, and the need for His children to abide in Him.  To settle, on the other hand, has a connotation of fixedness...a faith that is so rigid that it's not malleable.  A life that is so set, that almost becomes a brick, which cannot be shaped any other way.  A walk that has stopped, even though the road is not over yet.

I guess, that's why friends so often tell their girlfriends "don't settle for that guy!" Once we settle, we run the risk of becoming stagnant...almost like we give up, and we just take what we got because we stop believing that there is something else better waiting for us as we continue our walk with Christ by our side.

The nuances of language are fascinating to me.  I'm not sure I got this right... but all I know is that I don't want my faith to become rigid.  I don't want to "settle on the lees."  I want to remain like the clay that He, Our Divine Potter, can mold in His loving hands and make me into His masterpiece.  I want to be obedient to Jesus, as He exhorts us to abide...to remain in Him.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  

John 15: 7-11