The Essence of Life's Journey

Picture a couple where the loving husband has all that fulfills a wife’s needs and wants; and he endeavors to fulfill them. He treasures intimacy with his wife and finds joy from being in her presence and satisfying all her cares. He loves his wife and goes to the utmost to ensure her happiness and protection. All that he requires from her in return is genuine love and devotion towards him.

On the other hand, the wife values the things her husband offers, but not so much her husband. She will spend time with him, but this time is often dictated by the needs and wants she would like to have him meet. There is no genuine heartfelt desire towards her husband. Her heart is mostly occupied on herself, her needs and desires, along with ways of attaining their fulfillment through her husband. Unfortunately, she missed the point that the best part about being with her husband is not the things that he offered, but in sharing in his presence.

This doesn’t sound much like a healthy relationship, does it? Sad to say, it might be the kind that we find ourselves seeking from God.

We should totally depend on God and we must trust Him to fulfill our needs. Our relationship with God; however, should go beyond just having these needs fulfilled. We cannot afford to allow even the gifts that God grant to us, such as our family, our friends, material wealth, and even spiritual gifts to occupy the time and affection that He alone deserves.

Our greatest need in life is the need for God’s reigning presence in our lives. We should always be reminded that God is worth having because of who He is and not just because of what He can do for us. We have a greater need for God than the need for the blessings that He offers. Unless we recognize this, we can become so absorbed into going to Him for so many reasons, yet never take the time to go to Him just for the sake of sharing in the joy of His presence.

Yet this is God’s ultimate aim in His pursuit after all of us. The God of the Universe desires your company. He’s not merely interested in just a formal ritualistic meeting either. He desires for you to know Him intimately. He desires companionship with you. He wants to be your friend, your very best friend. He wants you to share in the pure delight of being His companion and friend.

Christ, referring to us as his bride, demonstrates the heart to heart relationship he wants with his followers. He wants an intimate connection with us in like manner to the relationship that he had with his Father, while he walked this earth. Christ was one with his Father. They had such deep intimacy, that it broke Christ’s heart to be separated from God.

The agony that Christ experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane was hardly due to the impending physical pain that he would encounter at the Cross. Rather it was the turmoil associated with the reality of being separated from God. Even while on earth, Christ always walked in the fullness of his Father’s presence. They shared constant communion. Bearing the sins of the world had implications of losing this intimacy. It had implications of losing the rich presence of his Father, in order to die for man’s sins.

We can consult with the best psychologists, the most renowned psychiatrist, the choicest therapist, yet they can never fully explain or truly quiet the turmoil we experience from a life separated from God. They can teach us to train our minds and adjust our behavior as coping mechanisms for such turmoil. But only God can extinguish the anguish of our souls and replace it with His peaceful gentle Spirit. Oh, what joy, what peace can be found in the presence of God!

There is no substitute to having the Lord continuously present in our hearts, moment by moment - in our thoughts, our motives, our actions, our words and over our entire life. Having Him present everywhere we go and in everything we do.

In God’s presence is fullness of joy and at His right hand are eternal pleasures (Psalm 16:11). In God’s presence can be found all the essentials of the joyful and fulfilling life. Bask in His presence.