A Recipe Card for Presence

Psalm 37:3 is a recipe card for a “present” kind of life. It sums up the process in four simple steps: Trust. Do. Dwell. Cultivate. The starting point is Trust.

We must trust God. God is sovereign. He’s in control. I recently experienced the loss of three family members within the span of thirteen days. As you can imagine, my head was spinning, and my heart was heavy. But when my boss texted me that he would pray for God's comfort during this time, my natural response came without thinking, "Thank you, I know that God is sovereign. Romans 8:27-29." I texted this to him simply because it's true. I believe it, and I take comfort in it. God's Word is the source of our comfort.

No one can make sense of the loss of life, especially when it comes so sudden as all three did. No one can understand why God would take a little one, our granddaughter, who is only a month away from being born, and who is delivered early as a stillborn to a grieving mom and dad. The grief we all felt during the onset of this period of time was unbearable. It was heavy. It was deep. I wanted relief but the relief I sought from the pain came only in knowing that I had to trust God when I couldn't make sense of things on my own. Comfort came from trusting that God IS sovereign. He's in control. He has a plan for each and every situation He allows us to experience, even the painful ones. Or - especially the painful ones.

Because of His sovereignty, God can do whatever He wants. That means He can even cause all the challenging or difficult things in our lives to work together for good, as Romans 8:28 says He will. He can take whatever was harmful, hurtful, or painful and transform it later into something that has a good purpose and outcome. Something you look at and say, “God knew what He was doing, or allowing, all along."

God can bring about good, but He doesn't have to do so. Scripture says He will do so for those "who love Him and are called according to His purpose," (Romans 8:28) He can bring about good from pain, difficulty and even loss when you trust Him. To trust is to obey. Yes, you may go through some dark days. We all do from time to time. But God is not caught off guard, even when we are. Someday He can explain it. For now, just take a day at a time, and trust Him. Doing so frees you from the pains of your past or the worry of your future, allowing you to open your eyes and recognize what you have to be grateful for right now in this present moment.