Being in the presence of God amongst the busy-ness of life

Driving to work a few days ago I found myself contemplating how busy I would soon become, and that, being so absorbed in my work, I would not/could not pay much mental attention to the love of God and Christ in my life. I then felt a little frustrated and sad at the same time. I felt frustrated because I couldn’t see anywhere out of being absorbed in my work, without also losing at least some of my capacity to do my job well. My work, by its nature, is very absorbing, and so it requires that my mind to be filled with it to do it properly. I also felt sad because this absorption seemed to tell me that I couldn’t help being cut-off from God in my daily life, as I went about my normal busy-ness.

Then, to my surprise, I felt Christ showing my something very new about God’s presence. That the reality of God’s presence is not dependent at all on my state-of-mind. Rather, it is what God always does for me, whatever my state-of-mind. So, I don’t have to feel frustrated or sad if the busy-ness of my life means I am utterly absorbed in what I do. Being in the presence of God is instead about acknowledging and knowing that God is always with me, and in the thick of it all, including my busy absorption, because God chooses to be with me. All I need to do then is say ‘thank you’ for this closeness with God and accept and receive the God-given intimacy of his presence. Indeed, I did say ‘thank you’ for this when I was putting my arm out of the car with my staff card to waive over the gizmo that allowed me access to the car park; and, of course, with this being not long before I started what turned out to be a normally absorbed and very busy day. What this insight and ‘thank you’ triggered in me, though, was a day-long deep inner-peace and stillness experienced underneath the busy-ness, which unsurprisingly helped me do my job much better than usual!

Luke 17:20-21: "Now when [Jesus] was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, 'The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!'. For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you."