It has been a long five months apart from this space. This hiatus was not planned and if I can be transparent, it was purely out of frustration and anger with the Lord. There comes a time when not seeing eye to eye with God can cause us to become prideful; we feel as though we can withhold our gifts from Him, thinking we can hold Him hostage and convinced it can get Him to move. In actuality we are robbing ourselves of experiencing Him in the midst of our brokenness if we persevere. There are particular ways God wants to share in experience with us and those ways can sometimes only come in the worst of circumstances. For instance, in the gospel of John when Mary and Martha send word to Jesus that Lazarus was sick and in need—that was a prayer—Jesus stayed where He was a few more days. Why?
Because He loved them (John 11:5-6).
Unanswered prayers seem like God did not get the message. But He always does. Sometimes His answer is not a mere yes or no, sometimes His answer is His presence. Jesus wanted this family to have an experience that healing could not provide, that answers could not square away. There are times when to experience God we have to go to the places we necessarily do not want to go—including the valley of the shadow of death. And His presence can even be felt there too (Psalm 23:4). When Jesus shows up He is moved by the grief of the people who loved Lazarus and He weeps with them. There is no hurt Jesus cannot share in. Jesus wants to share in all our experiences, especially those that hurt us the most. .
What God has taught me these past few months is that the greatest show of faith is not public display of affection with Him. It is the intimate moments He truly desires. True faith does not simply call down the Holy Spirit during invocation on Sunday morning. True faith does life with Him realizing He is present at all times. God will not save us from every fiery furnace we face in life, but we trust a God who is willing and able to step in them with us and because of His presence what was meant to destroy us won’t even singe a hair on our heads. Because of His presence—and only His presence— we won’t smell or look like what we have been through.
Here are some ways to practice the presence of God in your life:
1. Stay connected to a church family— Do not let the politicking and behind the scenes foolishness stop you from staying connected to the people of faith. The same foolishness happens at our jobs and we still go to work. The Church is a perfect body made up of imperfect parts, but go to Bible study, go to the prayer meetings, join a small group, but stay connected to people who are seeking the face of God.
2. Practice the praxis of prayer— Pray and pray some more. Prayer, fasting, and worship is the second holy trinity. This is the gate away to the heart of God. Prayer is a privilege and it is a beautiful exchange: you are casting your cares on Him and He is strengthening you with whatever you need. And sometimes the thing you really need is His presence. If you find it difficult to find time for prayer, I suggest interval prayer where you set an alarm for certain periods of the day for prayer.
3. Journaling— A journal is a track record of God’s faithfulness to you. Write your prayers down, write your feelings and thoughts down, and this is most important: keep a track record of when God answers your prayers. This comes in handy when the enemy tries to discourage us because we have a reminder of the active presence of God in our lives.
4. Be generous— Our generosity is a reflection of how much we look like Jesus. God is generous and His people are called to generosity. And this is not all about money either. God has blessed us with talents and gifts that can be used to glorify Him and help others.
5. Rest— you and I were not created to be busy. Busyness is not just having alot of things to do; life is filled with responsibility and responsibility is not bad. Busyness is when we become consumed and preoccupied with things that are not of God like worry and stress, anger, bitterness, overthinking, and a dependency on any and everything that is not the Holy Spirit. Rest is also not sleep (it is included, though!). Rest is surrendering to God what we cannot control. Rest is living how God created us to be—free. Biblical rest is like when my students are outside playing at recess; they are not pressed about the tests we start taking next week, or the fact that we still have to go back inside. Children get it. They understand that “now” is the most important time in the world. Enjoying now and not worrying about what may or may not happen is childlike faith and it strengthens our trust in God.
I pray we all take something from this. I pray I never forget that I do not have to call down His presence, I simply have to recognize that He is already here. Recognizing Jesus in the brokenness and ugliness of life is one of the most beautiful of joys we can have. Practice His presence— it’ll make it easier to recognize Him.
Until next time, continue to stay guided by grace,
Tra
Guided by Grace 