God is in the Room

Monday Devotional

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To show our gratitude, we will be sending out a weekly devotional every Monday to paid subscribers.  These devotionals are taken from my books Devotions for a Sacred Marriage and Devotions for Sacred Parenting (alternating each week).  Over time, you will have received two complete devotional books. We're thinking up other ways to show our appreciation for your support. 

Thank you so much for your partnership and please let us know if you can think of other ways we might serve you better.“Where can I go from your Spirit?

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Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

If I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

If I settle on the far side of the sea,

Even there your hand will guide me,

Your right hand will hold me fast.”

Psalm 139:7–10

I’d like to suggest a motto for Christian family life: “God is in the room.”

While God is always there, so often we act and think and behave and speak as if he were not. We fight, we argue, we laugh; we play games, watch movies, make love, and do just about everything without even thinking about the implication that God is in the room.

Even though we pray before our common meals, it amazes me how quickly I can slip back into thinking and acting as if the word Amen is a kind of curtain that I pull down in front of heaven. I’ve said my obligatory piece, and now I can carry on as if God has passed over us rather than taken up residence among us.

Think of how differently we might treat our children in those frustrating moments if we responded to them with the knowledge that God is in the room. If we truly believed that the God who designed them and who is passionate about their welfare was literally looking over our shoulders, might we be a little more patient, a little more understanding?