The Assurance of His Presence

Giving your time is showing your love. One of the precious learnings I have while reading the book, Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I here For? by Rick Warren, is the significance of how time is spent. Rick Warren explained, “Time is your most precious gift because you only have a set amount of it. You can make more money, but you can’t make more time. When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you’ll never get back. Your time is your life. That is why the greatest gift you can give someone is your time. It is not enough to just say relationships are important; we must prove it by investing time in them.”

You can’t say you love but you don’t have time. Making time for people you love and giving them a part of your time is an expression of your love. A parent who puts her children first, spends quality time with them. A husband and wife who love each other should spend time together. Friends make it a point to meet and catch up. Apportioning a good amount of time is a natural expression of love for others. On the other hand, lack of time would naturally put the relationship in jeopardy. It would breed doubts as to the genuiness of the love of the person.

Love is being there for the person. To be together, whether physically or virtually, is a time spent that shows we care. To be present and to give your attention to the person you love is a great indication of how much you care. Isn’t it comforting and uplifting to know that when you need support, your spouse is there? When you need an attentive ear, your best friend is ready to listen? When you need to cry, someone is there to comfort you? Because when someone is there for you, you feel loved. Simply because love is being there for the person.

God’s great love is continuously manifested when he gives time to us. Even God shows his steadfast love to us by being with us. The perfect model for love is the love of God. And he shows his love to us by letting us know that He is with us. He is present in every moment of our life. God has said that he will never leave us nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6, Hebrews 13:5). God is omnipresent. “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.” – Psalm 139:7-12. We cannot escape from the presence of God. We, therefore, cannot escape from the love of God. Apostle Paul said this about the love of Jesus for us: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”- Romans 8:38-39. We are assured of the presence of God every step of the way, in the highs of life and in the lows of life. He is with us and his steadfast love remains.