In The Presence of the Lord.

We had one of the most memorable times with the Lord this morning when we had our daily readings and prayer.  The reading was about body, soul and spirit, and the writer was drawing a parallel between these and a house.  The body he compared with the kitchen where we prepare our food to sustain life; it’s where we care for the body in this world.  Above this was the soul, the part of man that we give some attention to, but not really very much.  The top storey was the spirit, the place where we meet with the Lord in private.  This is the place that we know about, but only visit now and again.

This resonated with us because we knew that there was much truth in this parallel.  We spend too much necessary time caring for the body and its needs, but not nearly so much caring for the soul and its needs; certainly not as much as we ought to caring for the spirit and its need of communion with the Lord.  The embarrassment comes when we think about the real spiritual communion with the Lord; this is where conscience strikes and we feel guilt and unworthiness – not a bad thing in themselves. 

But we got down to prayer, and we found ourselves being lifted up into the most blessed place – the place of intimate communion with our Lord and Saviour.  This morning we met with the Lord.  We knew we were in His presence; we knew that He has come down again into our living room and had met with us.  We just knew it.  There was a “deafening silence,” a silence that could be felt.  God was near and we could almost touch Him.  Not physically, for God is a Spirit, but we did touch the living God.  It was wonderful.

And in that meeting with the living Lord, Margaret’s headache disappeared.  I don’t know for sure how long we spent in that blessed company, but we did know when we had finished our praying that we had met with Christ.  We did not want to flinch, or move a muscle.  Even the dog was utterly silent and at peace.  The very phone did not ring.  We were in the place of intimate personal communion with God.

When we finished praying, we spoke with low subdued voices.  We knew we were in the presence of His Majesty.  We both knew independently that we had experienced something unusual, something profoundly spiritual.  Margaret said that she would not have wanted to miss this for anything.  I agreed with her.  It took her illness and our family circumstances to open us up to what God could do.  She said that for years she had sung those lovely Gospel hymns, but they hadn’t meant that much to her.  Now they mean the world to her.  They are charged with meaning and power and life.  God had opened her eyes, and mine, to see the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ in the familiar words with which we had been brought up. 

We sat and meditated, and thought and prayed.  God was there with us by His Spirit and we were with Him.  I said to Margaret that so precious was this time with the Lord that I could envisage God sitting on His heavenly Throne smiling down on us.  We were enjoying Him – man’s chief end.  But even more amazing was the fact that He was enjoying us.  There was peace between us, a real and deep sense of reconciliation.  It was absolutely beautiful.  Margaret’s headache had gone, and we praised Him for that.  But her back pain was still there, and we praised Him for what He could do.  I can remember a time when I knew I was going to where I would be mauled by evil people, but I went there singing praises to the Lord most high, and came home singing praises to his great Name.  That’s what grace can do. 

Oh, what a wonderful morning this was.  You know, I pity those who have had a smooth run through life for they do not know what they are missing.  How mechanical their prayers are, how correct, how formal, how measured!  And I wonder just how far they reach!  But when you are cast upon the Lord only, my, what a difference that makes to us.