StrongerSample

Presence—No One Gets an Exemption, but You Do Get a Companion 

When we are at our weakest, God’s presence is strongest. His power rests on us in a special way when our limitations are undeniable and tangible. This is the essence of the passage from Psalm 91. God is making promises to the person writing these words, and these are good and comforting promises. The writer finds himself in trouble, so he calls on God to rescue him, and God promises to give him protection, to deliver him, and to honor him. 

But as I read verses fourteen and fifteen a few times, what I noticed was surprising. What gives hope to the one in trouble is not just the protection of God. It’s the presence of God. His presence is your protection. Everything hangs on seven simple words: I will be with him in trouble (verse 15).

There’s a powerful example from the life of Paul that proves how God can send others to pick us up from our pit and gather around us when we feel like we can’t go on. “Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe” (Acts 14:19–20).

Unbelievable! Paul, who himself had instigated the stoning of Stephen, was now the recipient of this horrible form of death, but as he lay on the ground, evidently dead, his brothers gathered around him. Was it their prayers that saved him? Was it their presence that healed him? Was it the power of their companionship that lifted him up from the point of death? Yes, yes, and yes! 

God used His other disciples to bring Paul back from the brink. No one survived a stoning, much less walked back into the same city where he had incited a riot, unless there was a supernatural strength present through the presence of friends. How amazing . . . the stoning made Paul stronger. God doesn’t promise a free pass from hard times; He promises His presence. And His presence is the most powerful kind of protection we could ever have.

Furthermore, God’s presence is actually magnified in our weakest moments, when we feel most helpless and in need of a companion to stand by our side. 

When have you found God’s presence displayed through the encouragement of friends or the kindness of strangers? Did you recognize this as His nearness?