Knowing God’s Nearness Today

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
Lamentations 3:22-24, NIV*

As I prayed for a friend who has serious health trouble, the Holy Spirit seemed to prompt me to ask the Father to reassure her that He’d be with her whatever the future brings, but also that she’d know His nearness today.

We all long for some kind of reassurance for the future – specifically that things will be fine – but God asks us to focus on today. That’s the whole “living in the moment” thing I’m still trying to learn.

Definitely, we need a solid faith that God knows what lies ahead and can deal with it, but we’re not in the future. We’re in the present. And as Jesus said, today has enough troubles of its own. (Matthew 6:34)

Father, I’m so thankful that You know what tomorrow holds. Nothing will catch You off guard. Help me to trust the future to You and to live in the present – knowing You’re with me. Open my eyes to what you want to do through me today, who You want to touch. Help me enjoy Your company on the journey.

This week’s song is the classic “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” sung here by the group Selah.

*New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

2 thoughts on “Knowing God’s Nearness Today

  1. Belinda Burston

    Hi Joanna,
    “Being here, prepared to be nowhere else,” is a principle from the “Fierce Conversations,” training I took last week. Being here, in this moment, fully, was modeled so beautifully by our Lord. I just read this morning in the gospel of John, his loving care for the disciples at the last supper. He could so have been forgiven for being distracted by what lay ahead, especially as he would have fully have comprehended it, but he wasn’t, he was focused on being fully present to those men, for whom those moments would mean everything as they remembered them and wrote about them later. Thank you for the focus on Today!

    Reply
    1. joannamallory

      “Being here, prepared to be nowhere else.” — what a great way to put it.

      And yes, Jesus could have been excused for being distracted at the Last Supper. I’m often distracted with far less reason. But He stayed focused. I’d never thought how amazing that was.

      Reply

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