Practicing the Presence of God

That as for the miseries and sins he heard of daily in the world, he was so far from wondering at them, that, on the contrary, he was surprised there were not more, considering the malice sinners were capable of; that for his part, he prayed for them; but knowing that GOD could remedy the mischiefs they did, when He pleased, he gave himself no further trouble. The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence

Several years ago the little volume The Practice of the Presence of God was recommended to me. It consists of a series of letters written about the author's conversations with Brother Lawrence, a lay brother living in a monastery during the late 1600s. Since then, the book has been included in my re-read at least once a year stack. In my prayers about the devotional this morning the excerpt from above came to my mind.

Truly, we spend a lot of time worrying about things over which we have no control. And, if they worried God as much as they do us, He could certainly remedy the situation if He so chose. So, if God (who can "remedy the mischiefs") does not see fit to do so, why do we (who have no control over the situation or the outcome) fret about it?

Two possible answers come to mind:

1) We overestimate our power to do things only God can do.

2) We underestimate the power of God to do things only He can do.

Do you see yourself in either scenario? Do you feel a compelling need to fix situations or things that other people are dealing with? Or, are you content to pray and only do what the Father tells you to do? Parents often cross the line in this area, trying to rescue their children from the consequences of their actions. Actions have consequences. When a parent continually shields their child from natural consequences when they are young, it is a rude awakening for them when they get out into the world. Likewise, making excuses for our bad behavior or choices or the behavior and choices of those around us (think drug and alcohol use, sexual sins, lies, cheating, stealing, . . . .) gives the false impression that the sin has a solution other than repenting. It indicates an unspoken belief that if God was as smart as we were He would know the reasons that people act the way they do and make exceptions to the natural consequences in these circumstances.

Such action also indicates that God is not able to "remedy the mischiefs" if we just sit back and let Him do what He does. So, it's a two-fer problem. We think too much of ourselves and not enough of God's power.

Instead, consider it from Brother Lawrence's perspective. Pray about those things you see happening around you. But, don't let them trouble you too much. God can remedy them. And, He is faithful to do so when we get out of the way. That knowledge only comes from being in the presence of God.

Lord, help me to practice being in Your presence.