I was praying about what to write about and the Spirit brought to mind an experience from many years ago. It was the beginning season of a small group that grew and had a significant impact on many from a variety places and backgrounds. I have written about this in the past but with a different focus.
A small group of us were worshipping and as my friend Lynn was playing instrumentally on the piano words came to me and I began to sing, “I am here to worship, Intimate One. You are all I worship, Intimate One.” I don’t remember all of the words that emerged as Lynn played, yet I do remember that what produced them was an awareness of His presence, Jesus being real and tangible and a strong desire to submit to His presence and leading.
This was an ‘Out of His Presence’ moment. While we don’t often talk about it, there is a distinct difference between Yahweh’s omnipresence and His manifest presence. He can manifest His presence to varying degrees. On this occasion, though it wasn’t a lot of His presence, it was sufficient to move the hearts of a group of us and release a new level of worship. Any time He begins to manifest more of His presence, we have the opportunity to respond at a deeper level. Even as I wrote this, I felt led to pause and just fix the gaze of my heart upon Him. He responded by intensifying His presence and I was deeply moved.
In seeking to capture the importance of this idea I thought of a song that became popular a couple of years ago, Make Room. The song captures the heart of what I am seeking to express. One stanza says,
And I will make room for You
To do whatever You want to
To do whatever You want to
I will make room for You
To do whatever You want to
To do whatever You want to
The repetition of submission to His will and leading is a key theme of the song. It is reflective of what you are likely familiar with in Proverbs.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5–6 (NKJV)
When we come into His presence and submit our will to His we are making room. It is from here, out of His presence, that life and revelation can flow. When we lay down our agendas and make room for His, the Spirit is free to move in our midst. A great example of this is the famous George Washington Carver, a former slave who became famous for his scientific acumen in the US and abroad. In his regular Give Him 15 posts Dutch Sheets recently wrote about Carver, his numerous agricultural innovations and his international fame. Most importantly Dutch wrote about the source of Carver’s wisdom. Carver lived by the above passage from Proverbs. He made room and sought wisdom from Yahweh and referred to his lab at the Tuskegee Institute as ‘God’s little workshop.’ Carver’s focus was on the Lord guiding his scientific discoveries and achievements, which were numerous!
Now back to us, if we, like Carver, recognize that what comes out of His presence is the opportunity to engage in worship, creativity, passion and wisdom it should encourage us to make room. Let’s do that.
