A Life Lived in the Presence of the Lord

It’s only June, but already our calendar is filling up with summer plans. Conversations about beach days and family camping trips have me wondering when we’ll fit in the more mundane but necessary tasks of weeding the garden and mowing the lawn.

When we had four barefoot boys running summer wild here on the hill, we thought we were as busy as we could possibly be. Short-sighted, we weren’t thinking about the implications of four little families spun off into orbit around our small world. Independent of us, they are planting gardens, signing their kids up for T-ball, hunting for turkeys, traveling to Arkansas or Boston, repairing their trucks, and daring to make plans for their good futures.

It’s fascinating!
It’s exhausting!

The parents of adult children are given the gift of looking ahead. We plan and nail down dates and agree on meeting places. Then, we delight in the presence of so many people to love. I can’t think of a better way to spend these years past the midpoint.

Reading Psalm 27, I like the way David plans ahead. Praying for his own good future, he asks God to help him stay put, pay attention, and worship. His restless heart had finally found its true center and circumference:

One thing have I asked of the Lord,
    that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
    and to inquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4)

With his gift for poetry, David restates his request with three images, each one a vivid portrayal of a life lived in the presence of God:

1. Dwell in the house of the Lord
2. Gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
3. Inquire in his temple

This is a wonderful reminder that, as believers today, we are the temple of the Lord. We gaze upon his beauty in his Word and in his creation. We dwell with him in our faithful, daily practice of habits that create space in our lives for him to speak to us.

As believers today, we are the temple of the Lord. We gaze upon his beauty in his word and in his creation. We dwell with him in our faithful, daily practice of habits that create space in our lives for him to speak to us.

Tweet

David is praying a prayer for presence. He wants to pay attention to God’s character and his ways. This is our calling as well.

It is in this present moment, this date on the calendar, this particular zip code that we are called to love, obey, and learn from the Lord. In this perplexity, this frustrating situation, this time in which God is acting in entirely unexpected ways, we are “dwelling in the house of the Lord.” The question then becomes, am I paying attention?

• Am I gazing upon his beauty—or are my eyes darting madly in all directions looking for something better, something different, something else?
• Am I inquiring in his temple by meditating, considering, and reflecting upon his words—or am I reading in haste and moving on to the next thing?
• Am I present to the possibility that God may interrupt my carefully laid plans—not because he wants to thwart me, but because he has something better in mind?

---

It is in this present moment, this date on the calendar, that we are called to love, obey, and learn from the Lord. In this perplexity, this frustrating situation, this unexpected snag, we are “dwelling in the house of the Lord.”

Tweet

Holding You in the Light,

---

Now on the Bible App!

Grief comes to everyone sooner or later, and whether it’s the death of a loved one or the loss of some cherished aspect of our life or identity, God’s Word is crucial for grieving well. Past hurts have a habit of snagging our hearts in unexpected moments, but God provides abundant grace to help the believer move through grief without getting stuck and without wasting the opportunity to walk more closely with the Lord who lightens our darkness.

As you know, I’m committed to the truth that women can become confident followers of God and students of his Word, and it’s my goal to help you along that path. At Living Our Days, I provide biblical content and resources to encourage biblical literacy and faithful living, and now I’m sharing devotional content on the YouVersion app. Visit my profile page to get free access to all the reading plans!

Photo by Smithsonian on Unsplash