Finding God’s presence in the busyness of life

How do we find God's presence in the busyness of life?

The oxford dictionary describes busy as follows, busy·ness 1.the state or condition of having a great deal to do. "it's easy to get caught up in the busyness of life"

Does that ring a bell? Does your life feel so busy, so overwhelming? Do your feet hit the ground running in the mornings? I know many times this can be my morning. Especially as of late, it has been difficult to wake up before my little ones do. What was once a normal rhythm has been disrupted and uprooted by grief. Pain has a way of doing this, and next thing we know we feel lost at sea. How did I get here? God, where did you go? I was telling a friend the other day how my sacred prayer closet is such a gift to me, but that it had been weeks since I had just sat still in my prayer closet. My prayer closet is a place of refuge for me. A few years back a preacher I was listening to spoke on the sacredness of having a place of solitude where you could go. In this place there is no arguing with family, no loud, its inviting, its consecrated to God. Because of a recent back injury bending low was incredibly painful, my usual posture. It is in these moments where I fully rely on the mercy and faithfulness of God. Understanding that even when my physical body was not able to kneel my hearts desire was to come submitted and surrendered to God and to His will. I bank on HIs goodness friends. His ability to know my frame, to understand my needs. To extend compassion and mercy to me.

Is it possible for God to leave His people?

"God please, I know you are able, I know you never leave me, Father help me." In a moment of immense back pain, I cried out to The Lord. I know you are here Father, even though you feel distant, your word has taught me, "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you", I know I can trust you. I recall a father crying out on behalf of his son, his son was demon possessed, the disciples couldn't cast out the demon. Would Jesus be able to? "Lord if you are willing..." The leper crying out to The Lord to make Him well, the blind man... How many times did Jesus hear these words, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me well." So I, like the father, cried out, "Lord, I know you can make me well, I ask you to look upon my pain with compassion, heal me LORD, deliver my body from this pain I am experiencing even as I cry out on behalf of my dear friends whom I know are fighting very real and painful battles." In the midst of my own pain, I remembered my sister Dana, who was fighting for her life. Her strength, courage and resilience gave me courage. Her love for King Jesus, and the reminder that He is near to the broken-hearted encouraged my heart, and I felt peace wash over me, even as I sobbed and shook violently from the cold I was experiencing. Ice packs have not been my friend, though necessary to my healing. Relief did come that night. Thank you Father I cried out. Another chiro appointment would follow the next day, more discomfort, but this time, to make me well.

How do we draw near to God?

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you..." It is the goal of the believer to hide God's word in our hearts, to not be moved by our emotions, by our feelings about God. Why is it so important for us to hide Gods word in our heart? How does this even happen? I cannot tell you how many times I have heard, "I'm just not feeling it?". Can I let you in on a little secret? When you don't want to read your bible let that be what drives you to read it all the more. Even if it is just one verse, one passage, one chapter. However much you read today will impact you tomorrow, and the days that will follow. John Maxwell calls this the compound effect. The little steps that we take everyday, will eventually compile together. This is our lives. When we make the choice to read His Word we are storing up for ourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust can destroy. When the storms of life come, and they will, what will we stand on? My hope and prayer for us is that we would know the Rock of Ages. That His Word would be a sure and steadfast anchor for our souls. We need His Word sisters. Like we need oxygen in our lungs. The alveoli cleaning and pushing out the carbon dioxide from our bodies. This is what God's Word does in us. As we breath in His WORD we release, exhale praise. Because there is an exchange that is taking place in this quiet sacred place. But how do we find quiet when life is so busy and so loud?

When God feels far away.

When God feels far away it is time for us to press in all the more. When our kids are demanding our attention. The cares seem much. When we feel and think, "I am about to blow a gasket" turn your eyes upon Jesus. I literally mean, call out to Him. Before you loose it. Before you yell out. Call out to Him. His Word tells us in Jeremiah 33:3, Call out to me and I will answer you and I will show you great and mighty things that you do not know." Sisters, there is so much that I do not know. Wisdom I so desperately desire so that I can respond to my family well, even when they treat me less than nicely. There is beauty in this place of vulnerability. In the world we are told to grab the bull by the horns, to pick up our boots by the strap and to keep going, and while sometimes this is helpful advice, it isn't always. The truth is, sometimes we don't need to keep going. Sometimes we just need to sit. To stop and ponder. To ask God to give us a new way to live. To meditate on what God is saying. If we are too busy to sit still, for even one minute, we will miss beauty and treasures God has hidden for us in a day. One of my most favorite prayers to pray, especially when life is hard, is to ask God to show me His mercy for the day. His Word says, Great is thy faithfulness, every morning thy mercies are new". I believe the full counsel of Gods Word. I do not believe that some scriptures are only to be read as a poetic piece. If He said it, I believe it, even if I don't fully understand, and I want its truths to be found in me. To change me, transform me from the inside out.

How do we get God's Word in us?

One of the key ways we get God's Word in us is to read His Word more. This one might seem obvious but hear me, when you are in a season with young children it is difficult to make time to read Gods Word. Acknowledging this, I ask Father for help. If what I can read today, in this moment is one single passage. I can trust God, who knows my frame, remembers that I am dust, will be honored in me. Because it is my sincerest desire to seek Him, whole heartedly. I do not have the hours my Mama has to just sit and read her bible. One day I will. I do however have a heart that desires to hear my Fathers voice. My prayer for us, a teachable spirit. So I daily open up my bible app, sometimes before I leave the bed, and I read the verse of the day. I sit and ponder, I look up the scriptures before and after and I ask The Lord to apply it to my life. To take this little that I have taken and to nourish my whole being with His life giving Word, and He will. Because He is faithful. Sister, I want to remove any pressure that has been placed upon you. Every single bit of Word you take in, will nourish you.

Even while we are sleeping.

Some seasons in our lives are so incredibly loud that the only quiet we get is in our sleeping. INVITE God even into your sleep. I mean this fully. Thank Him for the day, ask Him to prepare you for the next day, and ask Him to fill your mind even as you sleep with His truth. To minister to you! If Jacob was ministered to while He slept, so can we! The Lord can speak to us in our dreams just like He spoke to both Josephs.

For some of us sleep is the only time we are still and quiet. If this is you, in another post, I write some practical steps to help you slow down, when you finish here, go check that post out. I know it will be helpful to you.

You can listen to His Word while you're drifting off to sleep. Listening on audio is a beautiful way to hide Gods Word in our hearts, one of my favorites, plus it helps me with pronunciations. Listen to songs that speak His Word, these are my favorite types of songs to listen to when I I'm having an especially difficult day. Esther Mui is one of my all time favorite scripture singers, you can find her here or wherever you listen to music. She has a beautiful voice and she sings Gods Word just as it is written and sometimes in multiple translations, though my favorite is NKJV.

I have walked through many seasons where God felt far away. I wondered, "what have I done wrong? Why do I not feel His Presence like I used to? Why can I not hear Him clearly like I did before? All of these are valid questions. However I believe that sometimes we think of God as a formula, if 1+1=2 than God will do xyz for me. Like a genie. In my time, in my own way. Sisters, this is not the way in The Kingdom of God. While He does reward those who diligently seek Him and call out to His Name (Hebrews 11:6) , living a life of virtue and godliness will not omit hardships, difficulties and desert seasons. Moments of seeming silence.

For years I lived my life riddled with anxiety. Always trying to control or manipulate situations so that I didn't get hurt, feel hurt. I didn't understand that even when life is chaotic and God feels distant I can still walk in peace. My hope for us is that we would be empowered by this truth. Jesus Christ came to pay for your freedom, to draw you to The Father, not just in the afterlife but here, and now! He desires to walk with us, to instruct us, to guide us.

Anytime I have felt discouraged about how little time I had to read my bible, or that I hadn't been to church in a while, these feelings would keep me from pursuing God, I assumed He was angry with me, that He wouldn't want to see me because I couldn't abide by His laws. These kept me from The only One who could help me. Sisters, The Lord is not angry with you because you're not spending time with Him. Is He longing for us? I believe so. When we realize we have lost our awareness of Him, CALL OUT, He will answer! Because He is the friend that is closer than a brother. As much as grief hurts, and causes so much hard in our lives, His Presence is so tangible in these broken places. His Word tells us so, "The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit." psalms 34:18 We cannot experience Gods comfort on the mountain top sisters. When everything in life is going well. His comfort is beautiful. His compassion far reaching. He will not leave us in our wandering. In our despair. In our longing to "get it right". He is right here to take us by the hand. Will you let Him?

I want to remove the pressure right now!

In conclusion, lets remove the pressure, one verse for this moment, lets build from here.

Reading our bibles is vital. Like breathing. How much you read in a day, is between YOU and GOD. How much time you spend together is between the two of you! The truth is The Holy Spirit Himself will draw you near to God, and the more you make the choice to pick up your bible to read it the more you will desire to read it, even when you don't understand what you are reading. The Lord is honored in our sacrifice, in our discipline. In recent years, many in the church have seen the word discipline as a bad word. Something we need to run away from. Sister, nothing could be further from the truth. Not only does The Lord discipline the ones He loves. Discipline is also how our brains are wired. What we focus on, we empower. What we think on grows stronger in our brains? Why? Because it's how we were created. We were made for God, and nothing will satisfy us like being with Him.

It's easy to think when God feels far that it is because we have disobeyed Him. Moved from His will. I don't want to suggest here that this isn't possible. Always, always repent and I mean that, always. Go to The Lord first, in a posture of humility and like David in psalms 51 ask Him to seek you, to know you, to show you if there is any grievous way within you? Have I dishonored you God? The Lord is so faithful and He desires for us to be in right standing with Him. He will show us! I know He will. So ask Him. If you have prayed and He doesn't show you any area of sin you need to repent from, thank Him and then trust Him. He may feel a million miles away in some seasons, but it doesn't mean that He is. This is why reading our bibles is important. If we know and understand that God has said, "never will I leave you nor forsake you", then when the question arises in our brains, we can say with confidence, "No, God is near, whether I feel His Presence or not, His pleasure over me or not, He is here because He said He would never leave me, He would never forsake me." Sister, this is how we bless our souls. This is how we minister to ourselves like David did, when He commanded His soul to bless The Lord in psalms 103. This life we have been given is beautiful and sacred, and He is inviting us into deeper intimacy with Him.

I don't know why He seems so quiet and distant at times. I do remember reading this scripture once, We are a people of habitation.

God has come to make His home in us. He doesn't come and go, like His Spirit did with the people of old. Only the Priest or The King had God's Presence. When Jesus ascended to Father all of this changed! Christ told us it would. He said in John 16:7, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you." He is faithful! He has told us, His Spirit would come down and at Pentecost, In Acts 2 we read about His coming! How His presence shook the room, the sound like a mighty rushing wind and the tongues of fire above them! Wow! Your encounter with Holy Spirit may not look like theirs did, but it is still powerful, because the third person of The Holy Trinity has come to make His home in us. God with us. Emmanuel.

Let's submit ourselves to God, we will resist the devil and he will flee from us. His Word is true. Keep taking it in and before you know it, you will hear yourself speaking His truths and blessing those around you with the same wisdom He has imparted to you.

Many blessings and love to you this week. Thank you so much for being here. If you found this post helpful, encouraging or you have your own tips you'd like to share with our little gather your sisters community, please do so below! Thank you so much.

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