Sermon: "Sitting In the Presence of God"
I have often heard people talking about their favorite Bible verse, but I’m not sure I have ever heard anyone talk about their least favorite Bible verse or passage. When I was in the process of outlining this message I asked some of the men in the office to give me their least favorite Bible verse or passage.
Jim said …
NUMBERS 20:12 – But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”
It hurts Jim to see a faithful servant like Moses being punished for messing up one time.
Brian said …
ROMANS 9:10-13 – 10Not only that, but Rebekah’s children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. 11Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad – in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: 12not by works but by him who calls – she was told, “The older will serve the youngest”
Brian feels these verses can make God appear to be unfair and that humans are just God’s puppets. It challenges our sense of fairness and makes us feel differently toward God.
Ray said …
I JOHN 3:6 – No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
Ray feels like this could lead people to believe that a Christian must live a sinless life and therefore discourage them. He knows that he does not live a perfect life and this one verse taken alone makes it sound like he is not a Christian.
I brought up this subject of least favorite Bible verse or passage because our scripture lesson for this morning is my least favorite passage in the Bible. But before we go there, let’s review what we have studied so far concerning “Embracing God’s Purposes for Your Life.”
Two weeks ago we talked about the importance of walking “The High Road of Faith.” We summed up that lesson with this statement …
You take everything connected with your life … your family, your career, your health, your dreams, your fears, everyone you love or dislike and say, “God, make of this what you will, I trust you!”
When you trust God to that degree it enables you to surrender your life and body to him. Last Sunday we concluded our lesson on surrender with a prayer that makes it very clear what surrendering to God involves. Listen to it again …
Lord, break me … break my soul, so that none of my self remains. Fill me only with yourself, my Father … fill me with your Spirit. … Let my life be nothing but a reflection of your being … and your character … and your goodness. Cleanse me from all wrong motives ... make me like Jesus … let me become the person you desire me to be. … Show me, Father, what you want me to do … open my eyes to your purpose … your will … let me do nothing … say nothing … and think nothing that is contrary to your purpose. … Help me, Lord … guide my steps in your way.
That is the type of surrender Jesus desires from us.
So to embrace God’s purposes for your life you must trust him to the point where you surrender yourself completely to him.
That brings us to step three in the process of embracing God’s purposes for our lives and back to my least favorite biblical passage.
LUKE 10:38-42 – 38As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
You can probably guess why that is my least favorite passage. It’s because it is so easy for me to be like Martha and so hard to be like Mary.
If we are going to fully embrace God’s purposes for our lives, we must take the time to “sit in the presence of God.”
I know that! I believe that! Mary did that! – and yet I can get upset with her because the practical side of me says, but someone has to do the work. However, I have also learned that if we don’t take the time to sit in God’s presence we will miss out on a lot of what he wants to do in and through us.
And so this morning we are going to look at some of the obstacles that can hinder us from sitting in God’s presence and some things we can do to help us sit in God’s presence.
I want to begin our quest to learn how to sit in God’s presence by looking at …
I. ANNE’S STORY
Anne shared her story in an article in Discipleship Journal.
Listen as she shares how …
A. EVERYTHING WAS GOING WRONG
It seemed like life was piling up on me. All it took was one more challenge – and the veneer of my life cracked.
It happened on a particularly cold December morning. As I gingerly made my way down the stairs, taking care not to wake our three children and to protect the toe that I had stubbed the night before, I was making mental note of the grievances I was going to present to God.
My husband and I had recently relocated, the seventh move in 10 years of marriage. The birth of our third child two weeks after the move had added to the stress. Then, there was the problem with the strips of vinyl siding that had been ripped almost completely off thehouse by the fierce wind. They banged against the house, frightening our baby. Because I had to attend to her, I had allowed the boys to take their evening baths together. A big mistake!
The boys had turned the bathtub into a submarine base, splashing and plunging under water. Soon the bathroom became a disaster area. Water had continued to flow from the open faucet over the side of the tub as I rushed into the room – slipping, crashing, and stubbing my toe.
I had put the boys to bed in great anger and without their usual Bible story. I knew what I wanted God to do about changing their behavior.
Then there was my husband: always gone when I needed him! This time his business had taken him to the Middle East for two weeks.
As my foot hit the last stair I had completed my grievance list, at least temporarily. I stopped for a moment. The unmistakable sound of dripping water had demanded my attention. I had turned on the light only to find another disaster. There in the middle of thefamily room floor on newly installed carpeting, lay a large portion of the ceiling, the ceiling that was directly below the flooded bathroom. Water still dripped from the gaping hole.
My tears could not be contained. I had always prided myself on my pioneer spirit, but with all my family far away in the west and good friends far away in the north, I could not escape my grief. I felt so alone, so alone.
At this point in her life Anne discovered something about herself that greatly concerned her.
B. SHE DISCOVERED SHE DIDN’T KNOW GOD WELL ENOUGH TO SUSTAIN HER
Listen to her words …
I didn’t really know God well enough; certainly not well enough to sustain me through the inevitable crises of life. Where was He when I needed help with real problems and stresses? How was I supposed to get in touch with Him in prayer?
This critical assessment of her relationship with God led her to ….
C. A WONDERFUL DISCOVERY
But her wonderful discovery didn’t happen in an instant. It was a process. Listen as she shares how the process started.
One day soon after this episode, during my afternoon prayer time, I pondered two verses from my morning readings: “Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8); and the promise that whoever believes in Jesus would experience the flow of living waters from within (John 7:38). I began to tell the Lord how much I wanted that livingwater to flow from within my heart. I finally became so tired that I just rested my head in my hands.
I was quiet for a long time trying to picture what my heart looked like. Then in my mind’s eye I saw an oddly shaped vessel, perhaps clay, deep within me. Water was flowing into it but never reaching the top. Then I saw the reason: it was cracked, lots of cracks. And itwas dirty inside, like a stained vase that needed scrubbing. I knew it was my heart – dry, brittle, cracked, stained. Anger, resentment, and unforgiveness were making it so.
How sad, I thought. Could that heart ever be cleaned and repaired?
Anne slowed down enough to have God’s Spirit show her that there were some things in her life that were not right. She suddenly stopped blaming everyone else and stopped asking God to change them so her life would be better, and started to look at herself. This led her to experience a great healing in her spirit. Here is how she described what happened.
Deep within my spirit a quiet confidence came, a knowing. It was as if I heard a voice saying that love heals the heart, love purifies the heart. I was very still. Listening. Then, there was a challenge: to love the people in my life, even the difficult people who put up barriers to that love. But I wanted to be loved, too! Then, in that moment, I knew I was loved beyond words, beyond my understanding. I was God’s child and He loved me.
I felt overwhelmed, but I had a tremendous sense of peace. Resting quietly, I knew that my search for the Lord was not in vain.
Anne’s healing led her to relate to her children and husband in a new way. Listen as she shares how her attitude and actions changed.
I came to see the darkness in my heart and to realize how my over-demanding needs for power, control, self-esteem, affection, and security drove the decisions that I made or my reactions to those around me.
For example, when my children’s antics led to results that were inconvenient or disruptive, I punished and reacted in anger. Wouldn’t it be better to instruct, to discipline, to love? How would Jesus have handled that situation the night the boys flooded the bathroom? Surely He would have helped them dry off, instructing them in a loving parental manner on the error of their ways. Perhaps He would have engaged their help in cleaning up the mess, tucking them into bed with the assurance that they were loved in spite of their foolishness.
Would Jesus judge my husband inconsiderate and thoughtless? Or would He be compassionate, knowing that frequent trips of 15,000 miles away can cause forgetfulness and what appears to be lack of concern, when truly it is exhaustion and stress. I had judged without compassion or love.
I could only ask for forgiveness and grace to surrender my needs to the Lord, and to trust that He would put them into balance for me, teach me wisdom, heal my emotions, and give me the rest that is found in Him alone.
What was it that brought about this great change in Anne’s life? What was her wonderful discovery?
It was difficult and painful to discover how far way from His paths I often wandered, how self-centered my life and even my prayers sometimes were. As I disciplined myself to sit in God’s presence very day, I found I was changing. I was becoming the person God desired me to be.
Anne discovered that sitting in the presence of God helped her embrace God’s purposes for her life. She discovered what Mary knew and what Martha needed to discover when Jesus visited their home.
I have already shared with you that ‘sitting in the presence of God” is a struggle for me and I suspect it is also a struggle for at least some of you, so let’s take a few moments and look at ….
II. LEARNING TO SIT IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD
First we want to look at …
A. OVERCOMING THE OBSTACLES YOU WILL ENCOUNTER
But before we do that, let’s be sure we understand what we are talking about when we talk about “sitting in the presence of God.”
Sitting in the Presence of God
Sitting in the presence of God is a type of prayer. It is thoughtful, reflective prayer. It requires listening with your Spirit, focused attention on God and his Word, and a strong expectation that God’s Spirit will teach, guide and counsel you.
One of the first things that stops us from sitting in the presence of God is …
1. Busyness
Isn’t that the trap Martha fell into?
LUKE 10:40 – But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
Martha was busy doing good things. Things that needed to be done, but she was taking too much on herself, and if she was anything like I am, it is much easier to be doing than it is to sit and listen.
Of course, there is also the busyness that we build into our schedules. We keep ourselves on the go with our jobs, children, homes, hobbies, and yes, even church work, and never have the time to sit in God’s presence.
Another obstacle closely connected to busyness is …
2. Impatience
Most of us are people on the move and as a result we aren’t accustomed to listening or mediating. When we come before God we are quick to voice our concerns, seek his direction, give him thanks and request his blessing … and then we are off on our way. We don’t wait around long enough to hear words of love or conviction from God.
Now that we have looked at several obstacles we must overcome in order to sit in God’s presence, let’s look at some ….
B. THINGS THAT CAN HELP US “SIT IN GOD’S PRESENCE”
The first suggestion is …
1. Meditate on a scripture
Choose a verse or part of a verse and ponder it. It may take you several days or a week, but if you ask the Lord what he wants to teach you from his word, often your Spirit will be enlightened.
Listen to how those who wrote the Psalms spoke about meditation.
PSALM 104:34 – May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord.
PSALM 143:5 – I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done.
PSALM 63:6 – On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.
Another way you can “sit in God’s presence” is by walking ….
2. Take a walk in nature
When you take the time to thoughtfully observe God’s creation he will often bring truths from his word into your mind.
You may be reminded that he is the potter and you are the clay. Or you may be overwhelmed by either his greatness or his love for you. If you open up your heart and mind to him you may be amazed at what he wants you to learn. Another suggestion is …
3. Scheduled Prayer
Maybe the fact that I am a Martha is the reason I have always promoted our prayer groups and monthly prayer hours.
Some of you may be able to quietly sit before the Lord for an hour or two on your own. Be thankful you can do that.
For those of you who can’t do that on your own on a regular basis, I encourage you to join or start a prayer group. We honor God by expressing our willingness to sit in his presence and it is okay to find ways to force ourselves to do that.
We have only looked at three things which can help you “sit in the presence of God”, but there are many others, such as: having a regular devotional time, taking 15 minutes to an hour and be alone and quite, slowly read a portion of scripture and then sit and wait to see what God’s Spirit wants to say to you through that scripture
CONCLUSION
You will never be able to fully embrace God’s purposes for your life until you train yourself to sit in his presence on a regular basis.
If you are like me and Martha and are more comfortable “doing” than you are sitting, but believe Jesus when he said Mary chose the best thing, are you willing to make a commitment this morning to do the things that will help you to sit in God’s presence? They aren’t hard things to do, but they are hard to do on a regular basis for many of us. Here they are …
- Meditate on a scripture
- Take a walk in nature
- Be involved in scheduled prayer
Developing the discipline to sit in the presence of God takes perseverance. Your physical body will resist. You will find all kinds of reasons not to take the time to sit in the presence of God. There are things to do. Your body will itch, ache and suddenly realize it is hungry. But if you will sit in God’s presence he will honor your desire to know and hear him. However, don’t be discouraged if you sometimes don’t hear anything or don’t sense his presence. Just be still and know he is God.
As we sing our closing song, you decide if you are willing to commit to doing one or all of these things in an attempt to help you sit in God’s presence. Then as I close in prayer you tell God what you are going to do and seek his help in keeping your commitment.