The picture in this blog is taken in an assisted living room just a few months ago. I was visiting an older man from our church who had suffered a stroke and was having a hard time recovering. I tried my best to speak with him and listen to what he was saying, but it was hard to have a conversation because of the effects of his stroke. I saw his Bible sitting next to his bed and asked if he wanted me to read Scripture to Him.
At first, I thought this just may be a good way to distract the situation of us not being able to have a conversation. As soon as I opened his Bible though, that all changed. He had markings, notes and bookmarks everywhere. I could see notes from years ago that he had labeled and I could tell that this Bible was a treasure for him. I found my way to James 1 and started reading…
Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
As I read through this chapter, I would often hear him make a sound and utter words that sounded like “Yes” and “Amen.” I know that the Lord was ministering to Him through His Word and encouraging His heart, but the same thing was also happening for me. Gods presence was filling that room with peace. There was a true awareness of His presence. Nothing else seemed to matter. We were locked in on that moment and what God was doing.
How often would you say you truly experience Gods presence?
There seems to be one thing after another that can captivate our attention and affections away from God, more things than we think.
An important distinction should be made when speaking of Gods presence, though. God is omnipresent. This means that He is present everywhere. And of course, if you are a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit through a relationship with Jesus Christ, which means that the presence of God lives in and through you. Yet, the Scriptures also speak of a manifestation, or experience of God’s presence. This simply refers to when the Christian is intentionally and consciously focused on God and experiencing the power of His presence. We can have Gods presence and know He’s there, yet not experience Him as we should.
Consider these words from A.W. Tozer in his book “The Pursuit of God”:
The Presence and the manifestation of the Presence are not the same. There can be one without the other. God is here when we are wholly unaware of it. He is manifest only when and as we are aware of His presence. On our part there must be surrender to the Spirit of God, for His work it is to show us the Father and the Son. If we cooperate with Him in loving obedience, God will manifest Himself to us, and that manifestation will be the difference between a nominal Christian life and a life radiant with the light of His face.
Tozer then writes about the person that IS intentionally pursuing and living in Gods presence in the midst of their daily lives:
Even when they are compelled to withdraw their conscious attention in order to engage earthly affairs, there is within them a secret communion always going on. Let their attention but be released for a moment from necessary business and it flies at once to God again.
I’ve heard some people say, “You can have as much of God as you want.” The more I read His Word and strive to live in His presence in the midst of the chaos and disorder around me, I can see this statement making sense. It’s when I consciously remember that I have the Holy Spirit in me and I can live in His peace, even when my circumstances are hard, that I really experience who God is.
Now, God can reveal Himself however He wishes, and sometimes He gets our attention whether we are seeking Him or not. But, it is also essential to seek Him and intentionally live in the Spirit. He meets us there in personal and intimate ways. This is what we should be aiming to do each and every day.
So, back to that assisted living room. I only spent a few minutes with this man reading Scripture, but I sensed Gods presence so much; I long to live in that reality all the time. I’m thankful I can live in the Spirit and pursue that now, and that one day in Heaven, that is all I will know!
Psalm 139: Where can I go to escape your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I fly on the wings of the dawn and settle down on the western horizon, even there your hand will lead me; your right hand will hold on to me. God, how precious your thoughts are to me; how vast their sum is! If I counted them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; when I wake up, I am still with you.
Matthew Weaver 