He's there when I need Him

Like Andrea yesterday, I had trouble narrowing it down to just one experience. Most of those experiences have been during times of worship, either with others or when I'm alone. But the time I felt compelled to share about was during a season of my life when I needed Him and God was real in a tangible way, and His joy saw me through.

I am grateful that the All Mighty Creator of the universe, the Host of the Armies of Heaven, the Holy and Just and Perfect God, chooses to have His Holy Spirit live in me, and chooses to grace me with His very presence.

It's just that sometimes I'm aware of His presence, and sometimes I'm not so aware. Sometimes my experience of Him is palpable, and sometimes I don't feel a thing and have to act on faith.

I can remember a specific time in my life when I needed Him and frequently experienced both His presence and His joy. It was when I took over my first facility as administrator.

In some ways I'm not a natural at being an administrator; I've got the mental ability but I'm shy, hate confrontations, would like to just be nice all day, detest being the center of attention, and am a definite laid back, type B, personality who adores when I have the luxury to take her time. But in a hectic, busy, secured psychiatric facility the pace is fast and there's a lot at stake. No education, or on the job training, could prepare me for all the situations that came up daily in that first position. (Did I mention that we also had a labor union in that building?) So, there'd be times when I had to make a decision on the spot and I really didn't know what to do. My natural inclination is to think about a situation, and then look at it from all sides, and then think some more. To analyze it from every angle, to research, and evaluate it. But the day to day life of running that business did not always afford me that opportunity.

So I developed the habit of spending time with God every morning. Trying to program my brain through His Word so that His way of doing things would be my first response. Trying to connect with Him and allow His Spirit to center me so I'd have a compass for the day. Then, when those urgent situations came up, I'd just silently offer up a prayer of "Help Lord-what do I do?" and go with what seemed the best course at the time.

What I can remember, with a smile on my face as I think back on it, was how real He made His presence to me. It was similar to what I've seen in the movies, or heard people describe, about how their dad was with them when they first learned to ride a 2-wheel bike; he'd hold on for awhile before He let go. That was the type of experience I had with God during that season of my life; I never felt alone because I could sense His very presence, right there, when I called out to Him. And His presence filled me with such joy and security; knowing that my heavenly Father was there for me, that I wasn't alone as I was learning the ins and outs of the job He'd blessed me with to provide for my family.

What about you, have you experienced God's faithfulness? Has He been there when you needed Him?