Laying It Down: Learning to Sit in His Presence
The Place I've Been Missing
God has been teaching me something about His presence. It is a beautiful place to be, and yet how often do I not sit there?
His presence shows up in so many ways on my faith journey. It's paying attention to Him in our everyday moments and feeling Him in our daily routines. It's in our obedience and our serving. It's in living by faith and helping others. And it's in our quiet time with Him: reading Scripture and praying.
But I think where I've missed it is in the waiting. The silence. The kneeling at the altar.
Our God is omnipresent. He is everywhere. Our God is an indwelling presence. His Holy Spirit lives inside of us. And He is also a manifest presence: the deep, felt experience of His power, love, and peace that we receive in prayer, in worship, and in daily life.
If I'm being honest, I've had a hole where His manifest presence should be. I've been reading my Bible. I've been praying. But I haven't sat in the silence and just let Him work.
When Life Got Heavy
Life has been heavy lately. Really heavy.
I can't point to one big thing. It's been a lot of little things piling up: some health stuff, not enough sleep, changes in our family, and that nagging feeling that I should be farther along than I am. The weight of it all just settled on me.
Two Choices at the Altar
A few weeks ago, I was invited to a conference with my church. I'll be honest... I didn't want to go. Not even a little bit. My husband made me go. I'm not kidding. If it weren't for him, I would have said, "Nope. Can't go."
I was just in that place. I didn't want to be around anyone. Everything offended me. I was exhausted, and honestly, I probably wasn't much fun to be around!
The first night, the message was about being in His presence. Afterward, I sat there, and God gave me a picture. It was me, and every limb of my body was heavy. I was dragging myself through life. It was the perfect picture of exactly how I'd been feeling.
In that moment, God said, You have two choices:
Stay as you are: heavy, exhausted, and overwhelmed.
Come kneel at the altar and give it to Me.
I chose number two.
I went and laid in the presence of God. I cried a lot. I felt a lot. I gave up a lot.
When I got up from that altar, my situation hadn't changed. But being in His presence took the weight off. Oh, how I had missed His presence, His stillness, His goodness.
What a Friend We Have in Jesus
In that moment, I was reminded of an old hymn:
What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer.Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
O what peace we often forfeit. That line stopped me. I don't know why I don't just give it to Him. He's right there, ready to carry what I keep insisting on dragging around.
Your Invitation
Maybe you're carrying something heavy right now, too. Maybe you're doing all the "right" things, reading and praying, but you haven't slowed down long enough to simply be with Him.
This is your invitation. Find a quiet moment this week. No agenda, no checklist. Just kneel, sit, or lie in His presence, and let Him take the weight.
You don't have to stay heavy. You get to choose number two.