Those were the words of encouragement a very good friend told me when facing the delivery of my first child.
She was right even though I remember looking up at the nurse near the end and telling her I didn’t think I could do it anymore! The nurse just smiled and patted me on the hand. “Yes you can honey…. You can do it.”
Did I have a choice?
No. We were way past the turning back point.
There is truth to the encouraging words from my dear friend. You really can do anything for a little while. My healthy baby girl did come into this world.
But what do you do when the little while goes on for years and years and years? All painful things and good things do eventually come to an end, but their timing is unpredictable.
As I prayed for friends going through trials and difficult situations, I prayed for God’s Presence to be with them and for their awareness of Him. The prayer caught me a little off guard the other day. I don’t know why. I’ve prayed it for years. But a twinge in my spirit told me to linger on those words.
“O Lord, be present! Open their senses to Your Presence with them.”
Then I had an epiphany.
These words are the other piece that concludes the words of advice given to me almost 21years ago. We can do something difficult for a little bit of time, but it is so much better if we do it with the knowledge and Presence of God.
We really can do anything with His Presence. His Strength. His Peace.
There is nothing worse than not feeling His Presence in the midst of a trial.
I’m reminded of the conversation Moses had with God before he lead the Israelites to the Promised Land. He said to God, (my paraphrase) “If you aren’t with us, we might as well quit. You have to go.”
God replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:14).
Forty years in the desert with grouchy, faithless people, but the Bible tells us, “Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone” (Deuteronomy 34:7). This could have only happened with the Presence of God. On His own, Moses would have been worn to the bone.
We can do anything for a little or long while with the Presence of Jesus.
“Lord, open our eyes, ears, and heart to Your Holy Spirit! We need Your Presence!”
He is here.
Much grace and Peace,
andy
