God’s presence

What does it feel like to feel God’s presence? Everyone experiences God in different ways, and sometimes each encounter can feel a little different. Once I was sitting in my kayak… technically, on my kayak as I have a sit on kayak (definitely go for the sit in, that’s my free advice in case you’re interested!). So here I am, on my kayak and I had been paddling as fast as I could. I love to paddle hard core and see how far and how fast I can push myself. Then… while my breathing and heart rate is up high, I just stop paddling…pull in my oars and let the kayak coast on the water.

Everyone experiences God in different ways,

and sometimes each encounter can feel a little different.

I soak in the quiet and the peace and it is like I am super connected with everything around me. My kayak seems to glide over the water, zooming fast and then starts to slow down because I am not paddling. This is my favorite part of kayaking… pushing and working so hard, exerting effort and energy to experience that pure peace that comes with the calm of letting the kayak go on its own…while I sit back and soak in the scenes around me.

I sit back and soak in the scenes around me.

That pure peace…that calm… that is often what I feel when in the presence of God…. a centering of my soul deep within that resonates when I am on the water. As my heart rate and breathing start to slow down, my senses are tuned to my environment. The water calls to me and soothes me, calm and serene as my kayak glides through on its own path. I feel connected to God in a way that is hard to describe, but really powerful. When I let go of paddling, I let the water (which is symbolic for spirit) take me where it leads me. I let go of being in charge so that I could center with the spirit. That is why being in my kayak takes me away and puts me back together again, because I focus on God and His creation and allow His peace to enter in. Sometimes, I am not even praying…. just letting go of the world, unplugging and allowing myself to be one with God.

I let the water (which is symbolic for spirit) take me where it leads me

Sometimes, I am not even praying… just letting go of the world, unplugging and allowing myself to be one with God.

When I struggle to hear from God, all I have to do is close my eyes and imagine myself on that kayak… unplugged and one with His presence.

Food for thought:

Why do we struggle so much to feel God’s presence? What would it take to change our lives so that God’s presence is constant and the distractions of the world are not?

Tonya Marie