This last month in Thailand was amazing! God taught me about really being vulnerable, about being more radical for Him, and about His presence. It was hard to leave Thailand. My team was enormously blessed by our host, Pastor TJ and his wife Joy, and also by two others, Selena and Sompien. What joy and encouragement and blessing they brought us as they provided us food and transportation, introduced us to many Thai people, gave us ministry opportunities, prayed with us, and encouraged us in our spiritual walks! TJ and Joy, I am forever grateful for you and for all you did for us. I do hope to see you again someday, the good Lord willing!
As I mentioned above, God taught me more about His presence. One of the students in my high school English class this last month in Thailand showed me that I didn’t have to have a deep conversation with him, or spend an hour in prayer with him, or even spend a significant amount of time with him personally. I count it a blessing and great opportunity whenever I can do those things, however, God is not bound to our words or actions.
Oh what miraculous things we can do, what healing, what freedom, what light, what comfort, what hope we can bring when we are shining bright from being in the presence of the Lord. Like Moses’ radiant face after He came down from Mt. Sinai; He had been in the presence of the Lord, yes even before the face of God! (Hebrew word for presence is often panim meaning face). Everyone took notice immediately of this byproduct. May it be with you and me! I pray we would seek the presence of God more than anything else. More than the presence of the glow of the tv or relationships or security or fun or any other thing. In the presence of God comes all joy and fulfillment! He will use us in great ways when we make our utmost desire to continually be in His presence! We will walk into a room and people will automatically see something different about us before we ever say anything to them. When you are daily seeking to be in the presence of God, when you can’t get enough devotional time in the morning, when you can’t be alone with God long enough in the woods, when you are speaking and listening to Him throughout the day, others will see – they will see God by seeing you, by being in your presence. Presence is something we must seek wholeheartedly! It is something we pursue, something we must take steps to find. We can never escape the presence of God, Psalm 139:7, but we can ignore it, hide from it, suppress it, or be distracted from it.
Fluk was a young Thai kid I barely knew. He was in my English classes during the week, and I would see him from time to time around school, mostly during lunch, but nothing more than that. So when the tears started trickling from his eyes when I hugged him good bye, I was puzzled somewhat at first. But then I realized, it’s all about the presence. Not necessarily the words, actions, or gifts, but the presence. Perhaps by God’s grace, Fluk saw the presence of God radiating from me. That is my hope and prayer for myself and for all of you! Ministry is not always about the doing and the eloquent words and the giving as it is about the presence. Begin to passionately pursue the presence of God in your life and things will start to change! This is what will change your life and therefore the lives of those you meet! Being in the presence of God, developing that genuine, burning relationship with him, is what matters. Nothing else we do or say will matter in the end unless our authority and position is in Christ with God, pursuing and delighting in His presence!
What marvelous, lasting things He will use us for when we daily passionately pursue the presence of our Father in heaven!
