The power of presence

My wife and I recently returned from a trip to Hawaii to see our son, who serves in the U.S. Marine Corps, and his wife. We also saw our daughter, who traveled ahead of us to spend a few extra weeks with her brother after finishing her junior year of college in Oregon. 

While in Hawaii, we saw many of the sights popular with tourists. We visited Pearl Harbor, ate fresh pineapple at the Dole Plantation, and of course, swam in the crystal-clear waters of the Pacific Ocean. It was a trip we’ll never forget.

Despite all the beauty we saw and experienced, our most cherished memories from the trip were made not on sun-bleached beaches or standing in the shadows of giant battleships, but sitting at a kitchen table laughing until we cried playing Uno and battling it out on the pickleball court late into the warm, breezy Hawaiian nights. 

In the weeks leading up to the trip, I began to catch myself daydreaming about hugging my kids. We hadn’t seen our daughter since Christmas break and it had been almost a year since we’d seen our son and daughter-in-law. To have all our adult kids together—to be in one another’s presence—that was the real treat.

Now hold that thought for a moment …

While it may not get name-checked as one of the most important spiritual disciplines, I’m more convinced now than ever before that seeking the manifest presence of our Lord is, in fact, the most important thing I can do as a believer. Sometimes I can be so structured in my faith, with my Bible reading plans and extrabiblical study aides and prayer lists, that I forget that what my Father really wants is for me to spend time by His side and bask in the glory of His presence.