Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Presence

Have you ever felt it? It's a feeling that someone or something is there, but you can't see it or touch it. Sometimes it comes with music like during our praise and worship or when we watch a movie or television show that really brings forth a new truth. We don't think of it in a tangible way. We think of it as exactly that, just a feeling, but it is tangible. It is real, and once you have felt it, you long for it like a hungry man who has been without food for days or a thirsty man wandering the deserts of Arizona without a drop of water in sight. It's the Presence of God.

Adam and Eve were the first humans to experience it, except they didn't just get the Presence of God. They got the real deal, God Himself, to walk with them daily. However, the person most of us think about when we think of the presence of God is the great Israelite leader, Moses. The man who got to experience the manifestation of God's presence to such a degree that a physical radiance shone so brightly on Moses' countenance that he had to cover his face with a veil. Here is the amazing thing, about Moses that I just found out this weekend. It didn't just affect his physical demeanor, it was transferred into his writings. It says in I Corinthians 3:13-18 that God gives people a veil over their eyes whenever Moses' writings are read. God's presence is still so strong in his words that God has to shield people even to this day. How absolutely AMAZING is that!!

I grew up thinking of things like Moses' face shining as a story. It happened a long time ago, but it doesn't apply to us now. I so missed one of the greatest truths of God. He is the same YESTERDAY, TODAY, and, FOREVER. If it could happen back then it could happen now. The words we speak, the songs we write, and the stories or thoughts we pen could induce the presence of God in such a huge manifestation that God would have to veil nonbeliever's eyes to protect them.

Is this something you strive for? Do you honestly say, "I want to be in the Presence of God so long and so deep that my countenance will shine"? If not, why? For me it was because I was afraid. I am somewhat of a controlling person. It's not that I'm obsessive, (my desk will attest to that), but I like to know what is happening and why, and one truth I have learned about God is that you can't control God. He will often move you out of a comfort zone so that it is clear it is Him working and not you. The hardest part for me was taking my hands off completely and saying, "I want you God, in any form, and for however long you will let me". The amazing thing is He doesn't turn you away, and He lets you linger. He lets you soak in His Presence in such a way that you never want to leave, and it's this that makes you shine.

So go ahead, soak Him up. Linger in His presence, and may His face shine upon you so you will shine upon others. May the songs you write, the stories you pen, or the words you speak, however insignificant they might feel to you, show the Presence of God so greatly that people will say you have been in the Presence of God.

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