God Is Here

This week I listened to a lot of John Michael Talbot and some other
Christian singer/song-writers most of the day while I rode around. I
probably have about 30 hrs worth of songs on my mp3 player. Today I heard
(again but for the first time in a long time) a song written by Tom Booth -
"Here I Am." It's written as if from Jesus to the listener. Here are the
verses.


Do not fear when the tempter beckons
Do not fear even though you might fall
Do not fear for I have conquered evil
Do not fear; never be afraid

I am here in the face of every child
I am here in every warm embrace
I am here with tenderness and mercy
Here I am. I am here.

I am here in the midst of every trial
I am here in the face of your despair
I am here in pardon and forgiveness
Here I am. I am here.

The refrain - beginning, end and in between the verses

Here I am, standing right beside you
Here I am, do not be afraid
Here I am, I'm waiting like a lover
I am here. Here I am.


The song is really quite simple... but it is the first and last verses that
seem to really "get" me. I hear Jesus speaking these things to me. And I
think the reason is because I am so fearful. There are mistakes I make
because I don't think enough. There are "mistakes" I make because I don't
want to think otherwise. And there are those "mistakes" I make because I'm
afraid of either losing or not getting something that seems important to me.

The real problem is that I really don't have a very good grasp of the
incredible, inscrutable, unreasonable, illogical, unfathomable love of God
in Christ. Consequently, my faith in God doesn't go nearly deep enough.
And so I become afraid, angry, resentful, anxious, etc. These are not
qualities of the Spirit of God. They are qualities of the "flesh."

The reason God is "here" is precisely because of his great and powerful
love... a love so powerful that it endured death and then beat death at its
own game. And that Love is HERE. He is here not only to bring mercy and
forgiveness but also bring grace and the power to be transformed. The great
thing - and this is the thing of which I need to keep reminding myself and
remind other Christians and teach to non-Christians - is that it's not just
for a moment and then it's gone. Love is here for this moment... and this
moment... and this one... and this one... and on and on and on in every
single moment.

To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength
requires that one knows God in a profound way. And that requires
experience. I can't prescribe the "shape" of that experience for every
person - it can be vastly different for lots of people (although it appears
to be very similar for lots of people, too). But everyone of us needs to
come into this experience of knowing God's great love for us.

And it needs to happen more than once in a lifetime or once a year or even
once a day. We desperately need this experience as a constant aspect of our
lives. Realistically, it may happen in seemingly disconnected moments, but
ideally it ought to be the normal life experience of every moment. And it
needs to happen in each person. You can't have the experience for me. And
when I do have the experience, I need to re-experience I in the very next
moment... and all the moments that follow.

It is the experience of God's presence with us, right next to us, in us. It
is the experience of Love that goes beyond even our wildest dreams. It is
the experience of rest and peace to such a degree that it becomes obviously
other-worldly.

To know love and to love... This is what it means to know that God is here.