In Your Presence

Psalm 16:11 “…in Your presence is the fullness of joy…”

Psalm 139:7 “Where can I go from Your Spirit, where can I flee from Your presence?”

Exodus 33:14 “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

1 Chronicles 16:27 “splendor and majesty are before Him, strength and joy are in His dwelling place.”

The presence of the Lord is by far the best place to be. How wonderful that we can freely bask in the dwelling place of our God. That we have been made white as snow and are able to be in constant communion with God wherever we go, not having to present sacrifices or only have select people be able to be in the Lords presence.

The most life-giving thing is with us wherever we go, but do we take advantage of it? Do we allow ourselves the pleasure of being able to sit at the feet of Jesus and gaze at His beauty, feel His embrace and bask in the overflow of His love?

I struggle with this very much. I get too busy with ‘life’ to just sit at His feet. I’m too concerned being Martha, that i forget to be Mary. When I’m exhausted, is the first thing on my mind to spend time with God, or something completely mindless? When I’m overwhelmed, do I shove feelings aside or tell Jesus how I’m feeling? When I’m weak, do I ask God to fill me with His strength, or hope that tomorrow will be better? When i’m void of jubilance, where do I strive to find joy? Am I convinced that the Lords presence will bring complete satisfaction, restoration and  fulfilment? That I will find joy of the purest form in the presence of God?

Gethsemane. In Jesus’ most agonizing moment, He sought the presence of His Father.

I know when things get tough for me, the last thing i do is seek Jesus. I pull myself up by my bootstraps and try to make it on my own. I soon find myself deplete of joy, void of strength, overwhelmed and on the verse of becoming bitter.

Oh Lord, that I would seek you like Jesus did in Gethsemane. That my thirst for your presence would be greater than any circumstance in my life. That my sin would not hinder my desire for You. That I would chase after you instead of chasing the wind, for it’s all meaningless without You. That I would know and seek the satisfaction only You bring. For where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I go from Your presence? Oh Lord, that I would remember I can sit in Your presence and gaze at your beauty wherever I am. That you are always with me I just need to allow You in. That I would remember that being with You is the best place to be. That I would make time with you a priority, not second-rate. Jesus, help me to take some time to simply sit at Your feet, to simply be with you. You can’t fall in love with someone you don’t spend time with.