Life is so much more enjoyable when we have the heart to see God with us and experiencing all of life with Him.
With a heart stirred up for God as a result of our working on our relationship with Him, we are in a better position to hear God’s voice, sense His presence and be filled with hope and joy in the ordinary and when in the midst of a storm. This week I pondered the many little things that stirred my heart that I would have missed if building on my relationship with God was not always my priority.
WATERING FLOWERS
One morning I was watering my flowers and realized that God gives us flowers not just so we can enjoy the gift of their beauty, but that we can be given the gifts of hope, caring and nurturing. They could not survive without someone to take care of them. They need me. God “needs” me to keep their beauty alive for my enjoyment, the enjoyment of any guests and, of course, God’s enjoyment. Just like a flower grows, as I care and nurture them out of love for God and neighbor, the virtue of love grew in me.
With love in my heart, and the desire to glorify God, I knew I could not achieve any of this without God. With that, my hope grew as well and as I have always said, hope is a powerful prayer.
Suddenly caring for the flowers became so much more important and God‘s presence and love for me became more apparent as well. The simple, ordinary activity of watering the plants, was no longer ordinary. Because of my relationship, what could have been simply a chore was an affirmation of my union with God.
What chores do you take care of that are means for you to grow in hope, care, nurturing and, therefore, love?
SITTING ON MY DECK
Time spent sitting on my deck would seem ordinary to many, but I do not see anything ordinary in it. I especially love the mornings. Right away I can see how God decided to use His creativity. This week is a blue week for Him. He added a gentle breeze as well. The birds must also enjoy it because each morning I can hear their songs of praise.
As I sat in these concerts in the company of the flowers and gazed at the blue skies, I felt the presence of God. I was no longer on a deck. I was experiencing a piece of Heaven here on Earth.
Surrounded by God’s love, enables something ordinary to turn into something extraordinary simply because I make building on my relationship with God a daily priority. How sad it would be to sit, feel as if I was alone and not experience God’s love.
Is there an everyday setting that you take for granted that you can see God’s love surrounding you?
VISITING GARDENS
My community holds garden walks once a week. I enjoy them because I truly believe God shares His gifts with us so that we can experience Him. Then, through the sharing of our gifts, we are sharing God with others.
This is exciting because being able to share in the gifts of others is a way for us to experience God in a way that we wouldn’t normally experience Him simply because we don’t have that particular gift. Our gifts truly unite us to both God and neighbor.
As I was walking along the path of one garden, I noticed a pot laying on its side and half of it buried in the ground. There was also a plant growing so close to the top that it appeared as if the plant was actually growing right out of the flat lying pot. I’m not sure if these people thought of this by themselves or if they got the idea from someone else. It really doesn’t matter. The point is that someone thought outside of the box. They took an ordinary planter and used it in a way that is different than most. To me that screams of God letting you know it is Him. Instantly an ordinary object becomes different and can connect us with God, whose ideas are far beyond ours. Suddenly an outing that thousands will participate in becomes a special encounter with God.
There is so much joy to be discovered when we take the time to work on our relationship with God every day.
Is there something you have become aware of that is unusual and good? Can you sense the presence of God in it?
THUNDER & LIGHTNING
Lightning is very unsettling to me. I have an agreement with God in regards to it. If they must happen, they come at night and He doesn’t wake me. I heard this week that lightning strikes help dissolve invisible nitrogen in water which creates a natural fertilizer for plants so that they can grow. It also creates an ozone layer that keeps them safe from the sun. Thunderstorms release energy and keep the earth in electrical balance. The explanation for the thunder was too complicated for an unscientific mind like mine, but the bottom line was that without thunder and lightning the earths electrical balance would disappear in five minutes. They don’t know what would happen without them, but it must be vital or God wouldn’t bother with it. Now while I still don’t particularly like storms, I know God is taking care of me with them firstly by what happens to the planet and secondly by making sure I sleep through them.
Many see the power of God in these storms. I can’t help but to see God‘s love.
I won’t be able to think of thunderstorms in the same way anymore. I am so thankful He lifted the barrier that fear erected. It was a barrier I never really thought I had because He so willingly made sure I was always sleeping through every storm. While I was definitely experiencing His love by sleeping, I now have been given the gift of seeing an added dimension of it.
Is there something that you fear that you can pray on and find God’s love hidden within it?
CONCLUSION
Well I could go on about my week, but the point of me sharing this much is that…
Nothing is ordinary when you practice the presence of God. As long as we maintain a relationship with Him, we will be filled with joy, hope, peace, love, gratefulness and optimism. These are traits that help us to see God because they keep our heart open to Him. When our hearts are opened, life is so much more enjoyable!
When this relationship is not worked on these traits are often missing and, therefore, a barrier to God is facilitated. For some the barrier is seen by their joylessness, constant state of anger, despair, agitation, hate, ungratefulness and negativity. If not checked, the barrier can grow greater and greater. While normally we can see why a relationship with God is important by witnessing the lives of those who have one, those who do not have a relationship can also be witnesses as to why having one is vital. In them we see what we do not want. We do not want to be closed off from seeing God in all things. We should always be mindful when we are exhibiting traits that are contrary to God. It is best to make looking at what traits we exhibited during the day a part of our daily examine to make sure a negative trait isn’t seeping in. Better to catch it sooner than later. That way we will be better able to experience a bit of Heaven here on earth even in the most ordinary things.
In short, always maintain your relationship with God. The greater it grows, the more we are able to practice His presence. The more we are able to practice His presence, the happier we will be even when all those around us are upset by the storm. In time, as we grow in this relationship, the moments when we are aware of God’s presence will also grow until there will appear to be only one moment of awareness that seamlessly extends throughout the day.
PRAYERFULLY PONDER WITH GOD
Pray on the final question posed in each of the four sections above. Talk to God about your reflections.
Each of the scriptures below can help us in practicing the presence of God. After you meditate on them, make sure to talk to God about what happened during your meditation.
John 15:4-5. Meditate on this scripture that focuses on our ability to bear fruit when we are united to God.
1Thes 5:16-18. Meditate on this scripture that focuses on the positive traits that keeps us open to God.
Matt 22:37-39 Meditate on this scripture that reminds us that when we are always loving God and neighbor, we are always in God’s presence.