A Sweet Resting Place

Is there a way to live constantly in the presence of God? is there such a person? Me and my friends all seem to forget and have to turn back to God, even though we always say we love Him so much.

I've been unemotional and distant. I've been rebellious. After a hard day of sincere prayer about things, I feel like I've received an answer. And the answer is, as it is always, "I love you, Rachel."

It's the end of a long, hard Tuesday, and I'm in tears, but not from stress. I'm the happiest kid in the wide world. I feel so loved. I feel very cherished. The people I love, love me back. The God whose approval I depend on, who I have been trying to please my whole life, has approved of me because of my Beloved High Priest.

Mercy. I sometimes have this vague idea of a figure who "died on a cross for my sin" and it ceases to mean anything, until I remember His character. It is only when I really am begging and pleading for Him to show me mercy that I see His greatest achievement and the most beautiful, supernatural quality - Mercy. It's not to spare me from suffering, but to look upon me and approve me.

Mercy. That I could incline my heart to petition without feeling ashamed or full of sin.

Perhaps it is an old song, but the Gospel really revolves around it. It is the anthem, the chorus of the march of life. The utter dependence of humanity on the grace of God.

I'm always amazed at how I can be sitting, doing nothing but praying, and the Spirit Himself comes to me and teaches me the position of humility, the only true way to the court of my Father.

We shall sing on that beautiful shore
The melodious songs of the blessed;
And our spirits shall sorrow no more,
Not a sigh for the blessing of rest.

- "In the Sweet by and by"