|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Over the past few months, I’ve been centering on the presence of God in my daily life; wanting to be more aware of Him in my days. Throughout the Scriptures, we read about the presence of God near and upon His people.
My life verse is Galatians 2:20:
“I’ve been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me, and the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
I will go to my grave with this verse indelibly inked into my body, heart, and soul.
But what does it look like to be aware of the presence of God in your daily life? We could spend the next months doing a series on this; there are so many ways that God shows up in our lives. However, for this post, I want to tell you a story of how God showed up in me in a very personal way; one that spoke to the depths of my soul.
My wife had a total knee replacement. Our Mentoring Warriors mission trip to Malawi, Africa was when the pain in her knee warranted further medical care. Upon our return to the USA, she had various tests and an MRI; all concluding it was finally time to get her “bionic” knee.
Months later, she had a successful surgery. I shifted into her primary caretaker role and quickly discovered my shortcomings. As an architect, I may be able to design the hospital and operating rooms she was treated in, but being her CNA and Physical Therapy assistant on top of housekeeper, cook and chauffeur stretched me in multiple ways. Sleep was short and rest was rare.
I found my attitude getting stinky! My love for her ran deep, but my body was weary. Many Sundays I attended church alone. That’s where we enter the part of the story where God showed up.
As I arrived at church, a young man and I had a brief, cordial conversation in the lobby.
“How’s Sandy doing?”
We chatted and he said he’d be praying for us.
What a blessing to know that a young man in his 20s was caring enough to ask and pray.
Later that morning, while the congregation was singing worship songs, the young man approached me while I was standing in my aisle seat, which was towards the front of the worship center.
“The Lord said I should pray for you now. May I?”
I nodded.
He placed his hand on my shoulder and leaned in to pray. With my eyes closed, I listened to him call upon the Lord to heal Sandy, to encourage and strengthen us; to be present with us in this recovery journey. While he prayed, I could feel the warmth of his breath on the side of my face, (no bad breath!), and his hand on my shoulder.
God created us as sensory people. Sounds, smells, tastes, and touch all play into our human experience. It’s how we know life is real.
As he prayed, Psalm 139:5-6 came to mind.
5
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
I imagined people alive during the time Jesus was on earth. I pictured the times Jesus would stop, lay HIs hand on someone, pray over them. I’m sure he was close enough to them that they could feel the warmth of Jesus’ breath on their face. They sensed his touch on their shoulder or back. Think of the assurance, the peace, the love they sensed knowing how close Jesus, the Son of God was to them.
This young man was fully himself as he prayed over me. He didn’t mysteriously turn into Jesus, or did he?
The warmth of his breath and his gentle but steady hand on my shoulder brought me into the presence of God in ways my soul needed. How did he know?
When you walk with Jesus, when your life is yielded to Him, your days may look ordinary, your interactions normal. After all, nothing wrong with a young man in his 20s praying for an older mentor of his. Nothing wrong with walking down an aisle in the middle of a church service to pray for someone, to lay your hand on his shoulder and be close enough that your breath is felt on his neck.
Perhaps, deep in this young man’s soul was a prompting by the Spirit that he heeded. He could have stayed in his seat in the back of the room. He could have sung worship songs like everyone else was and be perfectly fine doing it.
But, he didn’t. He listened to the Spirit, got up, and walked towards me. Look what unfolded.
Because of his obedience to Jesus, I experienced Jesus in ways my soul needed.
What’s been interesting is what I’ve experienced in the weeks following this experience at church. It’s deepened my awareness of God throughout my days. When I’ve faced temptations, my heart is quicker to invite Jesus into the moment, into my situation at hand. Needless to say, my giving into various temptations has dramatically dropped and my gratefulness for the presence of Jesus has grown.
Two takeaways:
1. As you go through your days, regardless of how menial a task might seem, invite Jesus to enter into that moment with you. It could be buying groceries, changing the oil in your truck, fixing a toilet, reading a book, taking a nap, doing laundry, or heading to work. Jesus promises to be present in all of your days. He is very near, invite Him in.
2. When God prompts you to pray over another person or simply buy them coffee to hear their story, be aware of how your faithfulness in what may seem like a small thing can bring the presence of God into a place in the other person’s soul that needs His holy touch.
May it be said of you, Jesus, I want to feel the warmth of your breath on me.
Warrior On!
David Riffel is the Founder and Executive Director of www.Mentoring-Warriors.com. Having gone through his warrior years (18-30) essentially without a mentor, God has placed in him a heart for warriors, to come alongside them in various ways as they figure out life. David’s newly released book, Mentoring Warriors: Coming Alongside Young Men 18-30, outlines principles for mentoring and gives advice for warriors in six key areas of life: self-management, life skills, education/career, relationships, faith, and identity.
