My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.”
And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.” (Psalm 27:8 NLT)
Some days I wake up with this verse and jump out of bed. But some days….like this time….I just want to roll over and pull the covers over my head.
Like when it’s only ten minutes to four (yes….that means 3:50 am) instead of replying “Lord, I’m coming,” I say, “Lord, I’ll catch you in a couple of hours.”
I wake up that early a lot thanks to my ever-changing hormones! But usually I put a podcast on and get back to sleep pretty easily. I mean – hey. That’s still kind of spiritual, right? I was listening to someone preach the Word.
But this time….at 5:00 when I still couldn’t get back to sleep, I finally did got up and went into the living room and said, “Well, here I am.” The house was quiet, the kids were sleeping. The dog was sleeping. It was such a nice, peaceful, and wonderful time in the Word and prayer. I’m glad I got up.
But then…after the kids were up and the dog was annoying (I mean barking) and the radio was on and everyone was in the hustle of getting out the door, I heard that verse in my heart again. “Come and talk with Me.”
And in the middle of the mess, I whispered back, “I’m here.” And the same peace and presence of God that was there when I was all alone was there in the midst of the chaos. And again when I was folding the laundry. And again as I answered e-mails.
Sometimes we get this unrealistic expectation that if we are going to “get away with Him” it has to be all this uninterrupted time alone in the quiet with the absence of all chaos.
But that just isn’t real life.
Real life, for me anyway, is that there isn’t much quiet, chaos-free, peaceful time alone. Real life is that even in the midst of my whirlwind days and nights filled with sports and errands and cooking and counseling appointments and homework, He is there. His presence is there. His peace is there.
The only difference this time than the days that chaos rules instead of peace is that I was aware. I was aware of Him, reaching for Him in the midst of the mess. And His presence and peace changed my atmosphere.
It doesn’t matter where you are, what you’re doing, or how peaceful or chaotic your life is right this minute. His presence lives in you. That River of Living Water that springs up as a well and flows out as a river is in you every minute of every day to bring peace and help and grace and power and life whenever you need it.
All you have to do is tap into it.
Lord, let us become more aware of Your abiding presence within us. May your peace and presence saturate every minute of our day today. We hear you say, “Come and talk with Me.” And our hearts reply, “Lord, we are here.”