5 Things I learned About God’s Presence
or
Where I Find My Rest
Higher Than I, oil on canvas, 2021.
My life recently has been an exercise in waiting on the Lord and His timing and provision. So in the waiting, where am I? Spiritually sitting at Jesus’ feet, hungry with a deep desire to be with Him? In His word? With fellow believers? In community?
Or am I mentally running marathons trying to solve the problems and figure out all the things? -in my own strength and power?
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. ”
As I study Scripture, He shows me again and again “It’s about my Presence”. Everywhere I look, I see reminders that He is present. He is a God who came to dwell with His people first through the wilderness in His Tabernacle, then His temple in Jerusalem, then finally He came Himself (John 1:14, 16) giving grace upon grace (but even in far away exile in Babylon, the Lord was with his people as seen in the book of Daniel).
What a comfort this has been to me in a season with so many unknowns. But then, each season always has it’s unknowns, doesn’t it? Each season has uncertainties and things we can’t figure out on our own. I find myself not trusting at times. My heart isn’t sitting at Mary’s feet, resting. It’s running around like Martha, trying to do all the things.
Through this last year, I’ve been reminded again and again of this deep Truth:
The Lord wants to dwell with us.
David seemed to know something about the Lord’s presence. He knew that was a place he wanted to be. Psalm 27 speaks of his deep longing to be with the Lord all the days of his life. These paintings are a representation of what it looks like when the Lord dwells with His people.
Finding everything in His Presence. Like Mary at Jesus’ feet, our hearts find what they’re seeking in Him.
There are 5 things I learned about God’s Presence:
1. The Lord’s Presence means I have peace.
Hesed, Abiding Rest Collection. Oil on Canvas 2021
Just as David calls the Lord his shepherd in Psalm 23, the Lord cares for and provides all for us. In Exodus 33, Moses asks the Lord to show Moses His ways. And the Lord responds, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Moses responds, if your presence doesn’t go with us, I don’t want to go anywhere. Isn’t it in your going with us that makes us distinct (my paraphrase)?
Both Moses and David desired the Lord’s presence to go with them- they knew the importance and the weight of this Truth. Going even further, Paul speaks of Jesus himself as our peace, referencing our restored standing through Christ’s death on the cross. In Christ, we are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit (verse 22). The very fact that we can be in the Lord’s presence every moment is made possible by Jesus’ death and resurrection on the cross.
Rock of Refuge, oil on canvas, 2021.
2. The Lord’s Presence means I always have access to Him.
David speaks in Psalm 27:4-5 of his deep desire to be with the Lord- to dwell with Him forever, everyday. So when the day of trouble comes (and it will come), he is already in the presence of the Lord. And again, today, through Christ’s work on the cross, we always have access to the Lord, and are able to call on Him moment by moment.
Even in the waiting, the Lord is working.
3. The Lord’s Presence means He sees me & He knows me.
Come Thou Fount, oil on canvas board, 2021.
Oh, what rest in this Truth! To be fully known and understood. To be truly seen. David declares in verse 1 of Psalm 27 that the Lord is his light- his salvation. He knows peace that comes from the cleansing light of the Lord, seeing even the darkest parts of him (Psalm 51). He welcomes the cleansing work of the Lord who sees him fully and completely.
The locations of these landscapes are inspired by memories and feelings rather than a real place- the colors echo this in their high key, light nature. Always in the Lord’s presence there is light- that exposes the darkness and reveals the hidden. What a glorious peace in this Truth. He sees.
Here in His presence, here there is space to Breathe. To be.
4. The Lord’s Presence means he invites you to deeper intimacy.
“Further Up & Further In”
Once again David speaks of his desire to dwell in the Lord’s tent forever in Psalm 61:2-3. He says lead me to the rock that is higher than I. These pieces are an invitation to this rest in His Presence. There is no fear of rejection, failure, loss, danger, famine, or sword. Reminiscent of CS Lewis’ The Last Battle, “further up and further in”- every new level of understanding/ awareness of the Lord is more broad and more immense and satisfying than we imagined, yet we are always hungry for more.
“It’s a mysterious thing- to be fully satisfied in Him, yet still hungry for more.”
5. The Lord’s Presence means that He is working & active.
These landscapes are a visual representation of the deep desires of my heart- to be at rest in the Lord’s presence, every day and every moment, like David referenced.
He knew that there He would find the comfort and safety He needed. And the Lord is teaching me that I always have access to the comfort, safety, power, through Christ and the guarantee we have in the Holy Spirit. I am always in His presence. I can cry out like David in Psalm 31:3-5, “You are my rock and my fortress, and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me, … you are my refuge.” And again in verse 8, “you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place.”
Sweeter than Honey, oil on canvas, 2021.
This is huge.
The landscapes are small intimate works but they imply the broad space beyond when we dwell in His presence. While the surface seems calm and the colors are muted, a deeper look reveals a depth and movement, representing the Spirit working through it all.
So what is our response to be?
We have Joy & solid confidence
David continues in Psalm 27:6, In His presence my head is lifted up, He offers up sacrifices with shouts of joy. And what joy we experience when we truly know Rest in His Presence.
From the End of the Earth, oil on canvas, 2021.
We can choose to stand on solid ground
because we find that He is a Rock to stand on when everything else is slippery sand. In fact, Jesus calls us to stand on the rock, so when the storms of life come, we are secure and safe; firm and immovable. (Matthew 7:24-27)
In Psalm 27:14 we read David’s final thought- “Wait for the Lord. Be strong, and let your heart take courage, wait for the Lord!”
In whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, these paintings are an invitation- Into His presence and all that it entails, a certainty of our physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing.