Meeting God Within
Updated: Jun 25, 2019
“We all live in a state of perpetual transcendence,” my wise friend Gary once told me.
I think he’s probably right. Problem is — we don’t experience it as often or as deeply as we might like — transcendence seems quite elusive for most of us.
When we think of finding or meeting God, we usually think of a transcendent God who is above and beyond us. But we also think of God’s “immanence” — how God lives within us. A God who is present here, now, both around and inside us.
For this is what the high and lofty One says — he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. — Isaiah 57:15
When you find yourself in a desert place
… and when you think God is far away, remote, perhaps even uncaring, or perhaps not there at all; when your beliefs are confused or your faith fails you, STOP and BE STILL.
The world around you, and the challenges you are plodding through, may seem like a wilted environment. Your inner spiritual landscape may feel withered and joyless. But flowers are just waiting to spring up in the dry desert of the heart.
Because God is still there. Maybe you don’t see his hand in your circumstances, or maybe you blame him for your circumstances, but he is still there — within your world, your life, and within you.
You don’t even have to believe in a concept of God, all you have to do is move within yourself and see if he’ll meet you there.
“BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.” — Pslam 46:10. These are God’s words to the psalmist. And to us.
Stop, be still, be quiet, find a place where you can be alone, close your eyes, forbid your racing mind to race, forbid your wild heart its wild leaping: just focus on the stillness within —a quiet, inviting room is there within you — just focus on nothing but the soothing, empty space below your self-talk and your emotions — there is a room there within consciousness, a space there — and that’s where you’ll meet God anew, any time you go there.
God is never far from us.
Though we think we can hide from God, and we might even convince ourselves of it, he is never far from us; indeed, he is always right here, within human consciousness, and we have been designed by him to communicate with him within ourselves — not just in thoughts, not just through spiritual concepts, but simply, naturally, in the deepest part of our spirit-consciousness, at the core of our being. That’s where you’ll always find God, even when you can’t find him in your circumstances.
We just have to dive within ourselves, find that inner room, that sanctum, that holy of holies in the body temple, and there acknowledge him. And "sit" with him.
Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. — Deuteronomy 4:39
TODAY’S TIP: Sometimes experiencing sanctuary within, where we can commune with God, is difficult work, because the mind and the world around us are so terribly busy and distracting — so today’s tip is simply this: BE INTENTIONAL about making time, finding a place, and the right frame of mind to meditate, and keep working at it. With practice, you’ll be able to move your awareness to your inner sanctum, and visit with God, whenever and wherever you choose. Do it even if you don't experience a "big wow," do it even if you are in a crummy state of mind, do it regardless of how you feel at the moment.
Meditation takes practice, and practice requires intentionality!