You will show me the way of life,
granting me the joy of your
presence and the pleasures of
living with you forever.
– Psalm 16:11 NLT
Have you ever had a time in your life when words fail? Like when you’ve tried to describe to someone a moment when you felt completely overwhelmed with emotion and you thought your heart might explode … and you just couldn’t find the words?
There are many times in our lives when language fails us. We may have experienced something extraordinary, but when asked about it, we have no words. Sometimes the reason for our lack of words is the reality of two conflicting emotions happening at the same time, creating a new, indescribable emotion. Being in the presence of God is one of those places where words can tend to fail, for it is often in His presence that we experience one of these moments of conflicting emotions. Faced with the holiness of our Almighty God, we find silence to be the best option.
As is the case with many of God’s characteristics, His presence is a bit of a paradox. Of course God is always present amongst us, but there are also moments when we become especially aware of His presence- perhaps in worship, our personal devotional time or a particular moment throughout the day. At these times we can find ourselves both drawn to SEEK Him and yet also totally feeling satisfied by having FOUND Him. On one hand we have an abundance of everything that God is– peace, hope, love, joy, strength (the list goes on and on)- and we can honestly say that we have FOUND what we are looking for. On the other hand, we discover that our access to all this is only made possible through an ongoing living relationship with Him- and that there is so much more to God to FIND so we are drawn to SEEK Him more than ever!
Today, let’s persist in both SEEKING and FINDING Him… even if the paradox of it all leaves us in a realm beyond words! Let’s decide to press deeper into His presence, trusting Him to make Himself known. As the verse in Matthew 7:7 says: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Let’s determine that today, we will draw CLOSE to HIM, that we might be found in His presence, seeking Him in all His fullness … knowing Him and being known.