Be present

God has been teaching me (over and over again in fact) that one of the most important things in all of life is to be present to Him and present to each person that I with in each moment.

And of course God is always and ever present, so I ought to be present to Him each and every moment as well. Brother Lawrence called this “practicing the presence of God.” Paul expressed this as “praying without ceasing.” Other Biblical passages talk about keeping our eyes fixed on God and our mind fixed on the things above.

We also should be available and present to the person in front of us. Sometimes this is especially difficult if we have an important decision or appointment coming up, or if the person in front of us is boring or aggravating (and we would just prefer to be anywhere else but here). Other times it can be hard if we haven’t slept well, or if we are worrying about something. And on and on the list goes. But just as it is vitally important to be present to God, so too we must be present to the person in front of us. God did not cause or allow that person to be there with us in that particular moment if we were not to be available to them (and them to us).

Finally we need to be present to the circumstance and opportunity God has in front of us. We can do nothing about the events of the past (other than commit them to Him for His redemption). In regard to the future, all we can do is pray and prepare for upcoming circumstances. So the most important thing in life is to discover what God has for us to do in this moment and then be fully present in this moment.

• In this moment should I be serving?
• Or planning?
• Or praying?
• Or listening?
• Or learning?
• Or meditating?
• Or praising?
• Or helping?

And the list goes on. But we simply must be present to God and listen for His voice. And if His voice speaks the name of a person to us (or physically brings a person before us) then it is our responsibility (and privilege!) to be present to that person, even as we are present to God and letting Him guide our interaction with them. And if God brings no person before us then we must ask God what else He would have us do in the moment. There is always something to do (whether work, play, worship or rest) and we must learn to be fully available to that thing that God prompts us to do.