“His Presence Matters”

           Recently, I had the privilege of hearing Pastor Francis Chan speak on the topic of "God's Presence Matters". Pastor Chan has always been one of my favorite speakers. I love how real he is and how he is able to really connect with his audience. During his preparation for talking about the subject, he found himself left with the question “does anything else matter?’ That IS the real question here. Chan then asked “If the God of heaven came down and made His presence known, wouldn’t that be the only thing that mattered?”

We have to have God’s presence. It is true that God is everywhere…but is His “presence” everywhere? What I mean by this is, is the awareness of His presence there and/or is there a difference between God being here with us and God being “present” here with us? Could it be that, yes He is everywhere and therefore He is in the room, but that He is not “present” with us in that we are not in a place of intimacy with Him and are in a way disconnected from His heat? That He is not “with us” in that He is not involved in our thoughts or actions because He desires us to seek Him and be intimate with Him on our own effort rather than He impose His sovereign right to make us be intimate with Him? I believe so.

 What does this mean for ministry? Ministry is God’s heart…and for us to be truly effective we are going to have to get humble, seek God, and get into His presence. I’m not talking about the manifestations and feelings that my Pentecostal brethren and I so often prioritize, but instead the real time spent in dedication to building our relationship with our Father and with our Husband, that we might not work alone or in vain…but instead work alongside our God, who so very much wants to be “present” with us. This is significant to the lives of all believers everywhere, and not just to those who are "in ministry", because missionaries and pastors are not the only ones who do the work of God or build the kingdom. Pastor and missionaries are leaders of the church, teachers, men and women dedicated seeking God and keeping His church structured in the way that is most biblical and God honoring, but they are not the only "ministers" in the world.

For the Christian laity...God's presence matters, because there may be moments in which God desires us to act and to do great things, but we are to weak and shaky from fulfill the action to perfection, because we are not relying on God or listening to his instruction. We can live lives full of joy and abundance, but not because we have money, or nice things. Only the presence of God can truly satisfy us and bring us life.