Week Twenty-Seven - The Only Person in the World

Beside the Well

               The experience of the Christian is unlike anything this world can offer.  The world screams for our attention.  God gives attention.  The world is crowded and noisy. God singles us out and gives us peace.  The world pulls us every which way.  God invites us to the single, narrow way.  The world presses and stresses.  God gives rest.  The world plunges headlong into turmoil. God orders our steps aright. 

               Bro Lawrence spoke of his soul being lifted up above all earthly matter.  He was at rest with God as His center and constant companion.  His soul was full of joy as he “feels that only God and he are in the world, with Him he holds unbroken converse, asking from Him the supply of all his needs, and finding in His Presence fullness of joy.” (p 77)

               And then he said, “All that passes without concerns the soul no more than a fire of straw, which the more it flares, the sooner burns itself out, and rarely indeed do the cares of this world ever intrude to trouble the peace that is within….” (p 78)

               I, too, have found there are times when it feels like I am the only one in the world God is noticing.  He is speaking privately and singularly to me.  I have his complete attention. But, oh, that my every moment were filled with the experience of this truth.  To see the cares of this life just go up in smoke.  To be constantly aware that God is particularly, individually, and purposefully with me, beside me, and listening to me.  I know this is true in my head, but, oh, to make it a part of my daily practice.  To make it more than head knowledge or even heart knowledge.  To be consistently functioning inside this truth.  To allow God to lift me up into His arms and speak peace to my soul—sweet communion.

               There are some special Scriptures that come to mind as I meditate on this thought.  Acts 17:78 “In him we live and move and have our being.” Philippians 1:21 “for to me, to live is Christ.” Colossians 2:10 “ye are complete in him.”  Isaiah 27:3 “I will water it every moment.“ Psalm 139:18 He thinks of me “more in number than the sand.” Acts 17:27 “he be not far from every one of us.” 

               The challenge I face today is to listen closer to the sound of His voice than the noise of the world around me.

Lawrence, Brother, Practicing the Presence of God and the Spiritual Maxims, Dover Publications, Mineola, New York, 2005.