Never Alone

Lay it down. 

Release it all to me. 

Step away and step into my presence.

A time of separation and a time of connection. 

A time of tearing down and a time of building.

These were some of the things God spoke to me years ago when He asked me to walk away from a large part of what had become my identity and comfortable place.

Sometimes He asks us to do hard things. And we don't always understand the purpose in His asking or how what He's asked us to do could be for our good. It doesn't always make sense in the moment.

But trusting Him requires surrendering our will for His. Trusting Him requires believing He is working for our good. Trusting Him requires sitting on the Potter's wheel as we take take shape in the palm of His hands. It sometimes means letting our plans and dreams die. And it takes faith.

"My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." Ex. 33:14

No matter where He asks us to go, He goes with us. 

On page 97 of our current study (Stressed-Less Living by Tracie Miles with MTOBS), Tracie unknowingly pens a part of my story:

"As we make our faith a priority and learn to trust in God's plans even if we do not understand them or like them, the doors will be flung wide open for God to enter our lives and begin His mighty work. During the wait we are called to fall on our knees just like Hannah and pour out our hearts to Him. We are each called to live life in a state of dependency on Him..."

In Exodus 33:14-18 Moses pleads with God for His accompanying presence and asks to be shown His glory. His dependency is on God and He knows that without Him, He might as well stay home.

At the end of His response to Moses's requests, the Lord agrees to send His presence and to show His glory. Then He says, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock."

There is a place near Him for each of us. In our surrendering to His will and in the realization that we can't do what He's called us to do without His presence and His glory we assume our proper spiritual position. It is here, in this place, that we are more near God than anywhere else.

In verse 21, the word place in Hebrew is MAQOWN, which means: standing place, post, station, city, land, region, place of human abode, etc. MAQOWN originated from the Hebrew word QUWN, which means: to arise, become powerful, to be established, to be fixed, to be valid, to be proven, to be fulfilled, to persist, etc.

When we are in that place near Him, His plans and purposes for our lives begin to take shape. His plans are established. His purposes are fulfilled. And His power can be displayed through our lives.

Also in verse 21 is the word stand. The Hebrew word is NATSAB, which means: to stand, take one's stand, stand upright, be set (over), establish, be stationed, be appointed.

This word is a verb, which conveys an action or a state of being. In that place, we will stand (we must take action, DO something, and BE that which God has called us to be). It is a place of appointment with and by the King of Kings.

The Lord is calling us to Himself. As He does so, He will require things of us that are hard, scary, impossible, and beyond our human abilities. But when we wholly surrender and position ourselves in that place near Him, His presence and His glory will not only sustain us but go with us and enable us to do that which He has planned for us to do.

We are never alone in His presence. And when we don't understand why He's asking or requiring certain things of us, we can rest assured that His plans are so much greater than ours.

Today, He has called you, anointed you, equipped you, and appointed you. 

I believe that place has been created by God and is reserved for each of us. In it is found our destiny and our purpose. There, His grace is abundant to do that which He has ordained us to do. There, His goodness is undeniable. There, His glory is all consuming. It is there, in His presence, in that place that we are so near Him, that we are changed, made whole, healed, and set free! It is there, that we are able to give out what He has placed within us. 

If His presence does not go with me, I do not want to go. 

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Joining with Melissa Taylor and a community of women as we seek God and His word in our current Online Bible Study: Stressed - Less Living by Tracie Miles

(Part of this post is taken from a previous post of mine, A Place Near Him)

From This Place

I sit, pretending to be be far removed from distractions and responsibilities. Really, I have just placed my old plastic outdoor chair near a neglected back corner of my home. A place I have not lingered before so its seems new. From here my eyes scan acres of property, noticing and listening.

Three horses to my right stand grazing while their donkey companion plays and rolls creating a cloud of dust on the parched Texas ground.

In another pasture, my daughter's horse stands tall resting under a shade tree.

I notice the ease and grace with which these creatures move. Confident and strong they rest in who they are.

My ears tune to the birds singing a melody of praises as they celebrate.

The wind blows giving rhythm to the leaves around me.

I marvel at the variety of activity witnessed from this place.

All of creation purposefully existing at once.

Living, thriving, resting.

Knowing, accepting, being.

And I, another small part of His great design, sit writing.

I have found my place.

Give me strength, Oh my God, to live and thrive and rest...in You.

To know, accept and be who You created me to be in this place prepared for me.

Sisters and friends, I pray that you stand confident and strong, resting in the place created for you. There is a place for you. And you are not here by chance.

"My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret and intricately and curiously wrought (as if embroidered with various colors) in the depths of the earth (a region of darkness and mystery). Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days (of my life) were written before they ever took shape, when as yet there was none of them." ~Psalm 139:15-16

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Linking today with Jen at Finding Heaven.

A Place Near Him (reposted)

(Reposted from earlier this year...)


One of my favorite passages of scripture in the bible is found in Exodus 33. Moses tells God that if His presence does not go with him, then he does not want to go. He then asks the Lord to show him His glory.

v. 18 And he (Moses) said, "Please, show me Your glory."

v. 19a ....Then He (God) said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you....."

v. 21 And the Lord said, "Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock."

God said there is a place near Him....

In verse 21, the word place in Hebrew is MAQOWN, which means: standing place, post, station, city, land, region, place of human abode, etc. MAQOWN originated from the Hebrew word QUWN, which means: to arise, become powerful, to be established, to be fixed, to be valid, to be proven, to be fulfilled, to persist, etc.
I believe there is a place for each of us where we are more near God than anywhere else. A specific place. And when we are in that place, He will establish us there, causing His plans and purposes to persist in and through us.

Also in verse 21, is the word stand. The Hebrew word is NATSAB, which means: to stand, take one's stand, stand upright, be set (over), establish, be stationed, be appointed.

This word is a verb, which conveys an action or a state of being. In that place, we will stand (we must take action, DO something, and BE that which God has called us to be).

v. 22 "So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by."

In that place, the glory of the Lord is so great that we, in our current state, cannot handle it. So much so, that God will have to protect us, lest we be destroyed. He told Moses He would make all His goodness to pass before Him and that He would proclaim the name of the Lord before Him. In that place, God's goodness is revealed! And His name is proclaimed so that all who see it will know that it is Him!

I believe that place has been created by God and is reserved for each of us. In it, is our destiny, our purpose. There, His grace is abundant to do that which He has ordained us to do. There, His goodness is undeniable. There, His glory is all consuming. It is there, in His presence, in that place that we are so near Him, that we are changed, made whole, healed, and set free! It is there, that we are able to give out what He has placed within us.

If His presence does not go with me, I do not want to go.

I pray that the glory of the Lord will be revealed in my life, that I might be near Him and know that which I was created for, that He might establish me in His plans and purposes (not my own) and so that others can see His grace and His goodness through me. That I might find that place....

I pray, today, that you might find that place and that His glory is revealed through you!

A Place Near Him

One of my favorite passages of scripture in the bible is found in Exodus 33. Moses tells God that if His presence does not go with him, then he does not want to go. He then asks the Lord to show him His glory.

v. 18 And he (Moses) said, "Please, show me Your glory."

v. 19a ....Then He (God) said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you....."

v. 21 And the Lord said, "Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock."

God said there is a place near Him....

In verse 21, the word place in Hebrew is MAQOWN, which means: standing place, post, station, city, land, region, place of human abode, etc. MAQOWN originated from the Hebrew word QUWN, which means: to arise, become powerful, to be established, to be fixed, to be valid, to be proven, to be fulfilled, to persist, etc.

I believe there is a place for each of us where we are more near God than anywhere else. A specific place. And when we are in that place, He will establish us there, causing His plans and purposes to persist in and through us.

Also in verse 21, is the word stand. The Hebrew word is NATSAB, which means: to stand, take one's stand, stand upright, be set (over), establish, be stationed, be appointed.

This word is a verb, which conveys an action or a state of being. In that place, we will stand (we must take action, DO something, and BE that which God has called us to be).

v. 22 "So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by."

In that place, the glory of the Lord is so great that we, in our current state, cannot handle it. So much so, that God will have to protect us, lest we be destroyed. He told Moses He would make all His goodness to pass before Him and that He would proclaim the name of the Lord before Him. In that place, God's goodness is revealed! And His name is proclaimed so that all who see it will know that it is Him!

I believe that place has been created by God and is reserved for each of us. In it, is our destiny, our purpose. There, His grace is abundant to do that which He has ordained us to do. There, His goodness is undeniable. There, His glory is all consuming. It is there, in His presence, in that place that we are so near Him, that we are changed, made whole, healed, and set free! It is there, that we are able to give out what He has placed within us.

If His presence does not go with me, I do not want to go.

I pray that the glory of the Lord will be revealed in my life, that I might be near Him and know that which I was created for, that He might establish me in His plans and purposes (not my own) and so that others can see His grace and His goodness through me. That I might find that place....

I pray, today, that you might find that place and that His glory is revealed through you!