January 4

“When was the last time you were physically affected by the reality that almighty God just spoke directly to you?  John lost all physical strength...Paul fell to the ground...Moses trembled...Peter fell down at Jesus knees....”  Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby, Experiencing God Day-By-Day

I stopped reading the above devotional at this point and became lost in the image in my head.  I realized that I couldn’t say, based on what happened to John and Paul and Moses and Peter, I’d ever been in God’s Presence.  I’d been on the fringe peering in, observing God, but I could not say I was actually IN God’s presence.  I then saw myself receiving the federal jury duty notice in the mail the day before and feeling anxious, going to the kitchen and finding something to eat to relieve the stress I was experiencing.  The thought of having to drive to Baltimore in rush hour traffic for the 5-week trial, of being asked to help decide another’s future, was overwhelming to me.    As soon as these thoughts presented themselves, it was as though a curtain was opened to me and God was revealing that the anxiety I was feeling was not due to the stress of the impending circumstances, but instead that I had been standing in His Presence at the very moment I felt most helpless!  But instead of running to God for help I ran to the kitchen to find my strength.  What God had just shown me was that when I feel helpless--which is why I feel anxious--I am actually in His Presence and that my response should be to worship Him as the saints of old had!

“Thou dost show me the path of life; in thy presence there is fulness of joy, in thy right hand are pleasures for ever more.” Psalm 16:11