
I began this year strong. I prayed, I fasted, I allowed God to give me vision for this season of my life. I was full of hope and faith, ready to take on the assignment. But now that I’m here, I feel like I’ve drifted. I’m not where I once was, at the foot of the cross, listening for His voice. Instead, I’ve allowed the busyness of life to distract me. I’ve allowed this answered prayer to draw me away from Him. But now, all I want is to get back to that place…I want the stillness, the closeness, the communion that I once had with Him.
Communion with God is developed in the dark.
It’s developed in a quiet place– a place where we are still. This is often a season of slowness, a place of desperation, and often a place of disappointment. We may feel stagnant in life, but this stagnation has a purpose. You see, when we are stagnant, with little going on in our lives, we are most aware of God’s presence. And in His presence, we grow deeper in Him…we learn to hear His voice, He renews our minds, transforms our hearts, and redirects our paths so that they align with His.
But the problem is that we can’t stay in darkness forever.
At some point, we must rise to the surface, we must do what He’s called us to do. But the question is how do we rise without drifting? How do we remain in that place of stillness? How do we walk in purpose, without losing our foundation? Because distractions are inevitable. We will face the distractions of relationships and responsibilities. We will face the distractions of expectations and disappointments. We may face all of this and more at the same time, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t still be anchored to the One that has a higher calling for our lives.
God is always with you.
I know you already know this. You’ve probably heard it your whole life, as I have. But I think many of us heard that statement growing up and threw it right in there with “Jesus loves you.” While both of these statements are true, they’re said so much that the true meaning has been diminished. They’ve almost become cliches. But when we sit down, and understand the magnitude of what these statements mean, everything changes.
So, for a moment, I want you to forget what you were told as a child. I want you to forget the thoughts or lack of thoughts that have been associated with the statement, “God is with you,” and I want you to really let it sink in.
God…is…literally…always…with…you.
He is with you in every moment of every day. He’s with you when your alarm clock goes off and you’ve only managed to get 3 hours of sleep. He’s with you when you’re getting your kids ready for school. He’s with you when you’re on the way to your job, and when you’ve gotten off after a long day at work. He’s with you when you’re happy. He’s with you when you’re disappointed or sad. There will never be a time that He isn’t by your side.
This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)
I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. (Genesis 28:15)
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139:7-12)
In every moment…He is with you. And all of these moments are opportunities to commune with Him. So what does that look like? Because in our season of darkness, we had so much more time to spend with God. We might have had hours to read, to pray, and to worship. But how do we incorporate that season of intense communion into our everyday lives?
I once heard someone say it like this. “I never spend twenty minutes talking to God, but I never go twenty minutes without talking to God.” And what this person was describing was living his days with God. Walking with God, talking with God. Living a life of communion with God.
We don’t have to spend blocks of time with God to be in communion with Him.
I know this statement goes against the grain, but communion isn’t about ritual, it’s about proximity. This is something that God has been showing me in these last few months. He would rather spend an entire day with us, than for us to give him a planned portion of our day.
As a wife and mother of three, I know how hard it can be to get quiet time in the middle of the day. I know how hard it can be to stay up an extra twenty minutes after a long day when everyone is finally asleep. I know how hard it can be to wake up early in the morning after you’ve been up with a sick child all night. But we must understand that God wants to be with us in the midst of all of it. He wants us to feel His presence as we lay down at night. He wants us to feel Him near as we rise in the morning. He wants us to know that He’s there when we’re exhausted in the middle of it all.
Lately, I’ve been having feelings of shame because I haven’t been able to keep up with my usual devotional time with God. I’ve believed the lie that I’m not as devoted, that I’ve drifted away from Him. But I can hear Him saying so clearly, “But you are with me; you’re always with me. You’re with me when you worship on the way to work. You’re with me when you thank me in the middle of the day. You’re with me when you ask for help when you’re having a tough time. Every time you think of me, you’re with me. And that’s all that I want…to be with you.”
God just wants to be with you.
If you’re like me, you need to hear this. You need to know that your Father just wants to be with you. He doesn’t care about your schedules; He doesn’t care what time of day it is…He just wants to be with you. In the middle of your joy, He wants to be with you. In the middle of your sadness, He wants to be with you. When you’re excited, He wants to be excited with you. But for Him to be with you, you have to be with Him, and all it takes is intentionality. All it takes is for you to invite Him into every part of every day. Invite Him into your morning routine. Invite Him into your daily responsibilities. I’ve noticed that some of my best moments with God occur while I’m doing the dishes. I worship, I pray, and I listen. This is all He wants. You don’t have to worry about fitting Him into your schedule. You don’t have to worry about having the perfect devotional time at the perfect time of day. That’s religion, not relationship. And your Father wants a real relationship with you. He wants closeness. He wants intimacy. He wants to hear your voice, and He wants you to know the sound of His, because He’s always speaking. You just have to be available to listen.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for your love, and thank you for never leaving my side. Today, I have been reminded that you are always with me, and I have been reminded that because you are always with me, I can constantly communicate with you. I don’t need to worry about the time of day, I don’t need to worry about the amount of time, because you don’t care about any of that. The only thing you care about is spending time with me. But I know that this takes intentionality on my part. So today, I am making the decision to lay down my ideas of devotion. I am laying down the patterns of culture, so that I can have an authentic relationship with you. I want to spend every moment of every day with you, Father. And I know that as I spend time with you, our relationship will continue to grow deeper. I love you. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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