October 2023 Revealing Light Newsletter

It’s hard when we want to talk to someone, but we can see that they are distracted by other things. ‌

They may be distracted...

• By what someone else is saying… ex: friend, sibling, parent, co-worker 
• Scrolling through their social media
• Texting someone else
• Looking past you (dazed)
• Distracted by what’s going on around you (looking everywhere else)‌

Doesn’t that make it hard to want to tell that person something important that you are trying to say? ‌‌

But honestly at times, we may be that distracted person when someone is trying to share something important with us. It’s hard for them to share, or for us to honestly hear and interact well with what they are sharing. We want people to listen and give us undivided attention when we try to talk with them; on the flip side, we need to be intentionally present when we are also listening. ‌‌

This doesn’t just go for our friends or family, but with God too. God has been present, but there are times when we were not present with Him. How can we decide to be intentionally present with the people who want to be present with us?

[We’ll continue this theme in the next section.]

- Daryl Struemph

“Make space.” It sounds counterintuitive while we are overwhelmed with many tasks to finish. At times, I get so overwhelmed that I start to fall behind on tasks and my time-management. The only thing that makes sense at the time is to try and catch up, push through, keep going, and try to keep my head above water. But it doesn't seem to successfully work every time. In the path of my linear day, plans, and tasks, it seems counterintuitive to take up another minute of space to intentionally create open space, a gap in my day, to just be in the presence of God. In the midst of the rush, I know God is present but I take His presence for granted. In the midst of trying to not drown, God has still been present.

I see the water I’m fighting and drowning in, trying to save myself; but I then see His present hand, again, to be present with Him. I mean, He's already present, was I?

What happens when I take a few moments to intentionally create space in my day to be present with God? [I’ll give you a hint, He finally gets through to me.]

I love those interrupted special spaces in my originally continuous linear day, just to be present in God's continued presence with us.

Some people call this “sacred space”. It’s the space where our intentional presence overlaps/intertwines with God’s continual presence.



As stated before [in the first article], it is special to have moments where we are intentionally present in a conversation with someone. This is true as a parent, a spouse, a child, a friend, a co-worker. Whether we talk or not, we are intentionally present, creating space for conversation. We also know what it's like when we want to be intentionally present, yet the other person seems distracted with other things. At times, we are that distracted person in God's presence.

Those moments with God can be the most refreshing, yet challenging spaces in the day. God may bring to mind the thing we are running from, the message He's been trying to tell us through His Word and people that just doesn't seem to get to us, or the encouragement we needed to hear after hearing the destructive lies we've been repeating through our mind for a while.

Growth takes time, changes take time, relationships take time, and that is all true for us in God's continual presence.

Make space, interrupt your linear day, split a gap to be present with God who is already present. You may even grow to have intentional sacred space with our present God all throughout the day.

There was a time when God reminded His exiled people, He hadn’t given up on them. They had forgotten Him and questioned if He even cared and would follow through. He was telling them that if they would just wholeheartedly look for Him, they would find Him because He'd be there. [Jer 29:11-14]‌

For us, we are promised that God is always with us [Mt 28:20], so now it’s our turn to be present with God, intentionally making that space to remember to be present in God’s presence.

- Daryl Struemph

There are many ways people are intentional about being present with our present God.

Throughout the day, we are doing different things anyway, so we can utilize those moments to be present in God’s presence.

This does not have to be still silence, it can be while we are doing our daily tasks and chores, partnering with God’s work. We get to work with God and see how we can be stewards with the hands God gave us. The ways we serve is intentional work with God’s work.

“May your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Mt 6:10).
“Whether in word or deed, do everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Col 3:17, 23).
“Multiply... and cultivate the land” (Gen 1:28; 2:15).

In Liturgy of the Ordinary, Warren points out the different ways we can be present with God’s presence through our ordinary tasks of the day.

As stated earlier though, it could be intentional space of silence and rest with God. After all, God did create mankind just before He started His rest. He invites us into His rest, even through Sabbath practices as well. It reminds us that the world will still function, even if we rest for some moments with God. This gives us time to prayerfully redirect our attention to God as we prepare to work through the week with God.

- Daryl Struemph

Extras for Vol 2, Issue 10:
-sacredspace.com (guided prayer)
-John Mark Comer Practicing the Way
-The Sacred Overlap
-Liturgy of the Ordinary, Tish Harrison Warren
-The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence
-Gen 1-3; Mt 6:10; Rev 21:2