Blog
Spending time in His presence
29th April 2012, Jared Kealley
There is nothing like spending time in God's presence. Our burdens are lifted, our worries ceased, we feel so refreshed and renewed. It is where we learn to be more like Him, and are transformed and changed. But why is it something we find hard to do? In our own personal time we may procrastinate and put it off, finding other things to do. At church in praise and worship we may shuffle about, looking at our watch, waiting for the next segment of church to occur. We really miss out when we do this, but it is something we find ourselves doing.
I am going to explore four obstacles that often get in the way of spending time with God. There are probably more but these are four big ones that I see not only as a Christian, but as a Pastor and worship leader. By exploring them, it will help to overcome so we can spend that amazing time with the Lord.
1. Guilt- This is a big one. When we go to spend time with God, guilt arises. Maybe its something recent, or something from the past. We feel that we aren't worthy or good enough. The fact is, we aren't, and it is impossible to enter God's present on our own because of our sin. The good news is that Jesus paid the price for our sin, and because of His grace, we can enter the presence of God!
Ephesians 3: 12 "Because of Christ and our faith in him,[a] we can now come boldly and confidently into God's presence."
If you feel guilty or the memory of sin is overcoming you, turn to God, ask for forgiveness and repent. He forgives and takes away our burdens! Tell yourself that you are cleansed by His blood and enter His presence!
2. Fear- Believe it or not, fear is another big factor. Some people are scared of God, and freaked out by the whole worship experience. They fear that God will strike them with lightning or say something judging. The fact is though, that God is our loving Father and delights at us spending time with Him. So often our views of God are tainted by our failed earthly relationships, but God is not like that.
We may be scared that God may tell us to do something we cannot do, or are not up to also. But God only has good for us! His intentions for us are better than our own for ourselves! He has a future and a hope for us, an abundant life, and works all things for good for us! And when we spend time in His presence, we truly discover this.
3. Distractions- Another big one! We seem to be busier than ever in our lives, and when we spend time with God, all sorts of distractions come in! A similar experience happened in Luke 10, when Jesus went to visit His friends Mary and Martha. Martha was so distracted with being a good host, that she didn't spend that time with the Lord. She was concerned, worried and troubled about many things. Mary on the other hand gave her undivided attention to the Lord.
When we seek God first, and have Him as our priority, all our other cares get taken care of! He takes away our burdens and gives us His rest!
4. Other- This includes not being bothered, not being able to get into it, not being interested etc! We need to give Him these burdens also, and have Him as our priority, setting our sights on the things of heaven, not earth! We are not of this world, so why are we distracted by things of this world?
Whatever our barriers, through Him we can overcome. Romans 8: 38 says that nothing can separate us from His love! And as we spend time with Him, He transforms us, continuing to make us into the light on the hill!
