Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
I'm going to tell you guys a story that's really near and dear to my heart. And it's a story about the power of presence. About ten years ago now, I had a friend whose mom got really sick and I got the pleasure of going to the hospital with him and his family and being a part of all the conversations about what was happening with his mom and ultimately it ended with me being in the room while his mom took her last breath and there wasn't anything I could say.
No words could ever amount to what he was feeling, yet he wanted me right next to him. And I was a kid at that time, so I definitely didn't understand why. But that was the first lesson that I got on the power of presence. And that's what this verse is about today.
We're going to read Psalm chapter 34, verse 18, and it says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.”
When Life Overwhelms
Life will sometimes put you in a situation where it feels like no one understands. Where it feels like you're the only person going through it. Where it feels like the weight of everything that's happening to you is only on your shoulders. I know for me, in the moments where I felt that way, I didn't have much to say to anyone, nor did I really want to hear anyone say anything to me.
But it's having that person that means something to you, or that you can trust to be the most raw, vulnerable version of yourself - to have them sit next to you. It says all the words that you can't.
God's Presence with Us
What does it mean to have the God of the universe be the person to come and sit next to you when you're brokenhearted? I know for me, sometimes I'll go outside and I'll just take a walk. I'll look at the trees, I'll look at the sky, I'll look at the clouds. And it kind of helps me zoom out for a moment and realize, God, you are so much bigger than I can ever imagine for you to have created all of this.
And not only did you create all of this, but you created me. And you understand everything that I'm feeling. And you promise me in this verse that you'd come and sit with me, man. Not only does He promise that He would come and be close to me when I'm brokenhearted, but it also says that He'll rescue me when I'm crushed in spirit, when the weight of it gets to be too much, because He doesn't just remove everything that you feel while you're going through it.
Sometimes He allows us to feel it, and His presence is actually the gift. But in the process, when it gets to be too much, His presence is the thing that rescues us from our spirits being crushed.
I don't know what you're going through today. Whatever it is, I just want to say I'm sorry for everything that I don't know, God does know. And He promises to be close to you.
