"Don’t expect Presents….Expect His Presence" by Stacey Wooddell Imbimbo

 The days are quickly passing, and soon December 25th will be here.

Christmas Parties, Ornament exchanges, Cards to send, and Cookies to bake.

Christmas time can be wonderful and exciting.

But, for some it is a time of sadness, anxiety, and depression.

Loneliness, loss of a loved one, financial difficulties, or family problems.

If none of these particular heartaches apply to you, look around because I’m sure not far from your realm of influence is a person that is hurting.

While wrapping your presents, pray for that person this season that needs to know that His Presence is so near.

A friend reminded me yesterday about the story of Moses in Exodus 33: 12-23

To summarize this passage God promises Moses that His Presence will go with him.  Moses keeps questioning God in this intimate exchange. Then Moses asks the Lord in verse 18 to‘Please, show me Your glory’. So the Lord places Moses in the cleft of the rock, and takes His hand and covers Moses. The passage continues when the Lord removes His hand and Moses sees God’s back, not His face for no man shall see His face and live. And God’s glory was revealed to Him in that moment.

If you are praying to feel His presence near you this Christmas season, know that He has His hand on you and His presence is very near.

Don’t expect a beautifully wrapped present but expect His presence to be wrapped around you.