Reawakening Our Souls: The Fight for True Presence with God

Why do we forget what we did over the weekend by the time Monday morning rolls around?

I can’t count the number of times a coworker has asked me what I did over the weekend, only to find myself asking the same thing: “What did I do this weekend?”

Over the past month or so, I’ve been questioning whether I’m busy doing the wrong things…

My calendar is full. But my soul is starving.

I feel as if so much of my day is half-lived. Half-conscious. It’s like I’m going through the motions, but my soul isn’t in sync. Something just feels…off.

I’m beginning to think that it’s a chronic lack of presence with the Creator of the Universe.

99% of the time, I find that I’m physically present in a moment—making breakfast, catching up with friends, working on my laptop, walking the dog, running errands—but I’m not mentally in it. My mind is off elsewhere.

Lately, my mind has looked something like: Make baby registry. Read a chapter of baby book. Ask friend what breast pump they used. Scroll through Facebook Marketplace to find a kitchen table for the house we’re moving into next month. Schedule dinner date with friend. Reply to that text.

Basically, what could be an opportunity for a mental check-in with the Lord…ends up being just another item that I check off my to-do list.

The worst part: I’m hurrying through my day.

I read a quote recently that has been pinballing around my mind ever since: “If the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy.” —Corrie ten Boom

Ain’t that the truth.

It’s why we get halfway through a year and wonder, “Where has the time gone?”

The harsh reality is that our days can go by in the blink of an eye. And if we’re not careful, we’ll get to the end of each day with an unsettled soul that realizes it wasn’t present with the Lord for any of the 16+ hours we were “awake.”

So what can we do?

For one, we can live as if everything we do is an offering to God.

Paul encourages us in Romans, “to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship” (12:1).

Offer our bodies as a living sacrifice…what does that mean?

I think a lot of it has to do with the mindset we approach our day with…

The reality is that most of our days are filled with mundane, ordinary moments. And whether it’s a mundane moment or a monumental moment, we can simply say, “Lord, I am here. Let this be an offering to You.”

• Washing the dishes? Lord, let this be an offering to You.

• Showing up to work? Lord, let this be an offering to You.

• Having a difficult conversation with a friend or family member? Lord, let this be an offering to You.

• Cooking dinner, changing a diaper, opening up the Bible…Lord, let this be an offering to You.

• Opening the mail, watering the plants, filling up your gas tank…Lord, let this be an offering to You.

When we live like this, we automatically take the spotlight off ourselves and put it on God. And in doing so, we make ourselves truly present in what we are doing.

We are no longer wasting away precious moments. Instead, we are spending them with King Jesus.

What a beautiful way to live our days.