One thing I have been meditating in this week in the importance of the presence of God and the plan of God to our lives, ministry, calling etc.:
Presence of God
By the presence of God I mean the anointing, power and glory of God – the fact that He is ‘there’. We know that God is omnipresent (everywhere at once) so it might seem strange to ask if God is ‘here’ but we need to remember the difference between His omnipresence and His manifested presence. He is everywhere, but he comes in power, glory and demonstrates Himself when he is welcomed and given the opportunity.
We need this! To try to do anything of true significance is pointless with it. We need to be like Moses in the wilderness where He pleaded with God “Do not send us up from here without your presence”. We need to have a holy desperation for God to show up. When He shows up ‘stuff happens’. When He doesn’t we are on our own. I’ve tried both – I like the first option much better.
Plan of God
Just as importantly as the presence though, we need to have an equal passion for the plan of God. By this I mean that we have a clear revelation of what He wants to accomplish and how he wants us to do it. We need his strategy and we need to be just as passionate about it as we are about His presence.
Some people get passionate about the presence (which is amazing) but they do not bridge it to God’s plan/strategy and so they enjoy and receive from the presence but are not able to harness it to advance the Kingdom. I have some friends who are part of the leadership of) a very well know ministry that experienced a major move of God. They saw so many powerful things but after a season realized that they were struggling to take what God was doing and impact their city. They had the presence but they began to seek God for His plan as well and began to put it into action and saw an significant increase in their on the ground impact.
The key in all this is that we would pursue both with the same passion. I have personally experienced and seen in others where one was emphasized more than the other, or the two were actually seen as in competition with the other (“Mary vs. Martha” is a common example – it actually doesn’t apply). My heart is that I would radically pursue the presence and the plan of God and see them compliment each other.
- You cannot get the plan without the presence.
- The plan won’t work without the presence.
- Without the plan, the greater potential of the presence is not harnessed and maximized (and I mean this in the most reverent way)
- Without the plan, people begin to lose sight of the very purpose of the presence and begin to take it for granted or abuse it.
All in all – we need both!
Food for thought: Do you find that you lean more towards the presence or the plan? Which comes more naturally to you (I tend to be a plan guy)? How can you begin to pursue each and see them compliment each other more fully?
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