A little more than 300 years ago a middle aged man named Nicholas Herman entered a monastery in France and lived the remaining 30 years of his life as a cook. (I guess you could call him a French Friar.) Though his life was lived in obscurity, he accomplished one thing that destined him for greatness. He sought and eventually achieved the ability to walk continually in God’s presence.
As he approached the end of his life, he wrote about it in a book that came to be called “The Practice of the Presence of God.” This book, written by an obscure monk, has influenced countless Christians over the centuries, helping them discover the joy of living day-in, day-out in God’s presence.
In one of his writings, he said: “If I were a preacher I would, above all other things, preach the practice of the presence of God. For there is nothing in the world sweeter or more delightful than a continual conversation with God.”
I believe that! I love talking about it and preaching about it! The problem is I so seldom consistently have a “continual conversation with God.” How about you? Do you practice the presence of God — do you experience God in your life on a consistent basis? If you do you can go read your Bible because this post is for the rest of us who struggle with experiencing God in all of life here in the shadowland. I don’t claim to have it all together but the times when I experience God most all start with this first step: Taking God from a doctrine to a person. Not only realizing the personhood of God but making him your partner in all you do. That means liking God as well as loving Him.
Whatever it is that you do with the majority of your time – whether, you’re a student, or you’re in the marketplace earning a living, or whatever your situation may be — God wants to be your partner in all of it. That is why Jesus came to the Shadowland!
Psalm 127:1-2 can be applied to any area of life — academic, family, relationships, work, all of it. This psalm teaches us that God wants to be involved in every area of our lives because everything we do is important to Him. Read this several times today and see if God doesn’t use it to make you see the areas where you “labor in vain”…
(1) Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. (2) In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat — for He grants sleep to those He loves.
The Shadowlander 