Welcome to Why Live Today and the Freedom from Addiction and Loneliness Series!
I am answering the question, “For me, what were the three most helpful things for breaking free from addiction and loneliness?” The first answer is found in our last video, “What is your red dot?”
Today is the second answer: God’s presence in my everyday life. My wife gave some good advice. I’m breaking this topic into two parts. Part 1, is about the critical importance of God's presence in our everyday lives. Part 2, is what I don't here enough about: how do you and I practice the presence of God on a daily basis?
In the last video, I referenced my favorite movie villain, Darth Vader a lot. Let's give, Yoda, one of my favorite wise sages some attention.
The Empire Strikes Back - Episode IV - A Star Wars Movie Clip - (credit Disney) - Yoda - “Force is all around us…” - https://youtu.be/fxCR2bFWHxM - 1:40-2:01
Getting personal, there was a breakthrough in my early 30s while staying at a hotel in Louisville, Kentucky.
Whenever I had gone to hotels by myself in my 20s, as a Christian, it was usually a place of loneliness, which further fueled my sexual fantasies and acting out. In my early 30s, I showed up to a hotel in Louisville, Kentucky for a conference of Christian Missionaries and I found out I would be rooming alone. My wife didn’t make the trip. I got excited, but not in the old way that led me to sin.
The Matrix - Movie Clip - (credit Warner Brothers) - Neo and the Woman in Red - https://youtu.be/YgJ5ZEn67tk?t=35 - 37-50
I started to see and appreciate amazing beauty, like this woman that catches the attention of Neo in The Matrix. I began to see her in the light of God's presence. Not only is she created in God's own image, she is also of infinite worth because Jesus Christ died for her. God gave everything for her. This knowledge was helpful, but didn't always keep me from objectifying women and living in wrong ways. More helpful for my ongoing freedom, was the light of God’s presence in that hotel room at that moment. The awareness of God's presence in that moment, kept her from occupying the center of my heart and pushing God out. Any time I was aware and actively embracing God's presence in my daily life, any woman, including my wife, (or any other thing for that matter) was unable to occupy the center of my heart. If any created thing other than God becomes our ultimate desire…a.k.a an idol, it will fill the void of our heart, and eventually, destroy us.
C.S. Lewis
``There is nothing in this world that, if we place it on a pedestal, won’t ultimately turn us into a devil.”
More than seeing just the lie, and what to say “no” to, I could say yes to the reality of what my heart really longed for even more. Listen to this statement? The primary purpose of physical beauty and the passionate desire for a connected relationship, is to re-direct us back to what we want most: an ever-deepening relationship with God. Do you believe this? Mole, says to simplify! Every created thing is a signpost pointing us back to God’s presence being primary!
For the 18 years that I struggled, I was like Jacob in the desert, feeling lonely and thirsty for connection in a relational desert.
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it." [Gen 28:16 NKJV]
I was looking for things to fill this relational thirst, video games, sports, women, etc.
This may sound familiar to those of us who have been Christian. God is with you. Like Jacob, we’ve had a seed planted in our life. It may germinate, but it doesn’t grow and fill our lives automatically. Guess what Jacob did for at least a decade after that. He lived his daily life like God wasn’t around. That was me for those 18 years.
Is your life a principled life (rule following), AND a life of practicing the presence of God (a relational life)? Do we only believe the first part of what Jesus said, or the second half too?
"Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age." - [Mat 28:20 NLT]
During my 18 years of struggle with loneliness and addiction, I remember going days or weeks without thinking much about God’s presence at all except for a passing thought, Sunday sermon, Bible Study and nightitme prayer…or as Mole (the mascot of Why Live Today) describes it… “the dark tunnel prayer.” The dark tunnel prayer is trying to pray, but just falling asleep.
Mole, wake up! What’s the mystery movie reference? Mole personally made sure you can’t cheat on google with this one, because he swapped in some words. You can be the first to comment with the correct answer below and you’ll receive a gift. As long as you haven’t received one already.
MYSTERY MOVIE REFERENCE - “...only by digging for the Mole's tunnel will you prove your worth.”
So let’s break out of the boxes that we’ve created for ourselves. We need a healthy dose of fresh perspective to get what we need and want most: an awareness of God’s presence in everyday life.
MOVIE CLIP - Ratatouille - Perspective - https://youtu.be/4BSfWh9uHoY - 47-53
But how do we get perspective?
MOVIE CLIP - Yoda - “Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned.” - https://youtu.be/7fw49NqiTQw - 24-30
We must change the way that we view life. Like Jacob, we need to realize and remind each other that God is everywhere, and in every moment, even in the smallest things.
MOVIE CLIP - The Matrix - “When you go to work…when you pay your taxes” - https://youtu.be/gDadfh0ZdBM - 2:55-3:02
A quick aside…did you know that scientists have discovered that the vast majority of the matter and energy in the universe is not visible. They call it dark matter and dark energy, but it's still a mystery to them...hmmm? - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter
Returning to my personal story, in that Louisville hotel room, things began to change because I really started to believe the reality that God was there in that hotel room, and passionately desired to be with me, do good for me personally, and was powerful enough to accomplish it. If people really believe something, their actions reflect that.
Here are the major roadblocks or hindrances to experiencing the presence of God.
- God’s not real, or at least, God’s not real and personally involved with my life.
- Often it’s a belief that God doesn't personally love me
- God can’t personally help me in that moment. We’ll get to these in later videos.
Are any of these reasons true for you? Do wonder why your still struggling when even when you acknowledge God's presence or some truth regarding his presence There is likely a thread or a theme you can trace. For example, I would come home from a day of counseling and praying with a strong sense of God's presence. And then, I would walk into my house and snap at my wife and my kids. It wasn’t just fatigue. My awareness of God's presence changed as a husband and dad. I began to realize that acknowledgment of God's presence, often isn't enough. God was generally acknowledged, but still absent in the sense of impacting my heart and actions.
C.S. Lewis describes it this way, “When people sin, in that moment they are very much like an atheist.”
In the next article and video, I’ll share some of the ways I practice God’s presence. In other words, practices are just as important as the principles behind them. You can check out some of these practices in the Freedom Resource Guide.
So let’s be intentional. And the best way to be intentional is to ask God for help.
Pray this, if you mean it. Show us the “Why” that is blocking or hindering us and help us overcome it. Then show us the "How." Or, as Philippians 2:12 says, give us the power and desire to do your will and incorporate into life today!