God wants to meet with you
In His Presence
And God said, “Let there be light”, and there was light. Gen 1:3
Huddled around the kitchen island, laughter and shared stories of motherhood passed across the counter effortlessly between the group of moms as our children played in the next room. Suddenly, the air filled with cries of distress. Within seconds, one mom took the lead, breaking mid-sentence while the rest of us followed. She led the group with haste knowing it was her child in need of attention, just as we knew it was not our own child. Have you been there? The cry around the corner or call for “mommy” at the playground meets your ears with instant recognition, calling you into action without need to look for verification. The ability to just know their voice, their cry comes from consistent one-on-one time with them as we tend to them day and night. It is practiced as we attune ourselves to distinguish one cry from another and it is learned as we mother them for over the course of days, weeks, months and years. We can become equally familiar with God’s voice by persistent time in His presence.
Let there be light
The first thing God did after He encountered the darkness was shine the light, His light. Realize the sun had yet to be created so this light was a show of His presence, a show of Himself. We covered last time from verse 2 that He is in the darkness. Here in verse 3, He reveals Himself more obviously, more clearly. Sometimes in our journey, God seems hard to see and hard to perceive and there are other moments when He makes Himself more evident. We should take these moments of grace, those moments when He is more visible and examine them closely. Note how these nurture our minds, how they speak to our souls and minster to our hearts. In this examination, we learn to see Him through our spirits with the familiarity, the comfort, the peace and the simple knowing that comes from Him as our spirits align with the presence of the Holy Spirit. By learning to see Him in the light of day, we become better able to see Him in the dark of night. This comes with practice. This comes with taking the time to become familiar with Him in the times when the picture is clearer and unobstructed.
Practice seeing Him.
Laser focused, task oriented, I entered the store intent on getting out quickly in time for school pickup. Headed to check out, a “hey, Alicia” halted my flow. I turned back to see a friend standing there. Instinctively, I replied, “girl, I didn’t even see you there”! In my haste, I walked right past her without noticing because I was hyper focused on my own plan I could not see anything else. I think I have done the same with God buzzing about from one mom duty to another in auto pilot missing Him standing right there until He does something that completely disrupts my flow. By making the habit to practice seeing Him in the light of day, He becomes easier to identify in the light or in the dark or in the clear or the cloudy. This practice can take several forms and vary from season to season because He will meet us where we are because He wants to meet with us. That is the truth of Him revealing Himself then. He reveals Himself because He wants us to know Him. Here are some ways I have found helpful to begin to learn some marks of His presence.
· Be thankful. Start each day by acknowledging His presence with thanksgiving. Thank Him for the gift of a new day. Thank Him for equipping you with what you need through Him (2 Peter 1:3) to meet the day’s demands. Thank Him for grace to cover you as you go through your mom and other life duties. As you thank Him in advance for what He will do, thank Him for what He has already done by thanking Him for the blessings of yesterday. Thanksgiving ushers you into His presence (Psalm 100:4) knowing God inhabits the praises of His people (Ps 22:3). Be present with God in this moment to note how your spirit acknowledges His presence. Tuning into this sense will help you to be better able to identify Him better in the future with more confidence.
· Study His word. There is no better way to know Him than by knowing His word. Find time each day to read scripture. This can be a scripture you have studied for the past week or the past month. A scripture your child learned from you or in Sunday school. This can be a scripture you learned many years ago. It can be one scripture or the same passage you cover for a season. Whatever the source, meditate over it through study because it is all profitable for us (2 Tim 3:16-17). However, do not just know the words but let the words of the scripture highlight to you who God says He is and what God is revealing to you specifically. As you learn who He is through scripture, then you will learn what looks like Him and what does not. Be vigilant as you do this because satan disguised Himself as an angel of light, knowing the scripture willing to twist it for his own purposes to get you off track (2 Cor 11:14).
· Ask Him. Ask Him for continued grace to show Himself to you as you go about your day (Luke 10:21, James 1:5). He knows we are learning so He will walk with us as we grow in our knowledge of Him (Heb 5:14). Everything you suspect or believe to be God must always agree without compromise with His word (2 Tim 2:15) so test it against His word. This leads back to continually being in the word. Ask Him for discernment as you learn to know Him better (1 Kings 3:9) as you study scripture.
· Expect to see Him. Seek and you will find (Matt 7:7-8). If I had been looking to see my friend, it is much less likely I would have missed her. The same is true for our God. We cannot expect to see Him if we don’t expect to see Him.
As we go through our day, let us strive to see Him with expectation sensing the His presence with a discerning spirit. He might be the one holding the door open for you or waving you through in traffic. He might show Himself through an unexpected hug from your child, a call or message from an acquaintance or compliment from your spouse. He might turn the traffic lights green along your drive when you are running late or the one who delayed you so you missed that accident further down the road. He might sing through the bird chirping sweet melodies or kissing your cheek with the warmth of the sun while the wind strokes your hair. He is that warmth your sprit feels when that song comes on the radio releasing peace over you or the joy that fills you when you recall a special memory. These seemingly small everyday things not only shows us God, but it shows us He cares about us even within the smallest seemingly inconsequential details. It also exposes the truth that He will never leave us so expect to see Him everywhere. Determine to know Him better and He will honor your efforts with a clearer vision of Him and His plans for you.
In the next discussion, we will explore some of the tricks satan will use to distract us from seeing God.
Sow the seed: When we learn to see Him in the light, we are better able to see Him in the dark.
Nurture the seed:
Hebrews 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
Proverbs 18:15 The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out.
Ps 119:125 I am your servant, give me discernment that I may understand your statutes.
