Have you ever experienced the Power of Presence from a friend or family member who seems to just always be present at times when they are most needed? Personally, I can share that during many of these precious moments in my life, I am confident that the Lord is sending His love through those individuals so that His name “Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us,’” is perfectly timed to remind me of our interdependence on Him and others. Whether someone is investing the time in Being a Good Neighbor or is desiring to engage in Side-by-Side Conversations, they are choosing to use the Power of Presence to minister to our needs.

Sarah Bauer Anderson in her book entitled The Space Between Us addresses the importance of presence in our personal and professional relationships, especially when our differences seem to be creating a gap between us. Anderson describes what she calls “watershed moments” when an opportunity exists to find common ground with all people, particularly when that Defining Moment is an occurrence that shakes up our world. “…when something like that happens, the responses of those around us go one of two ways. People can either stay close by when all of the chips are down and no one else can be found. Or, in the moment we need them most, people can be conspicuously absent. Even those we thought would be a mainstay are suddenly nowhere to be found. We all know the feeling of either being tremendously hurt by absence or tremendously healed by presence…For better or for worse, all of us have experienced the [P]ower of [P]resence.”

Grant Skeldon, who was introduced in Side-by-Side Conversations, mirrors Anderson’s Power of Presence philosophy which he applies to mentoring and discipleship while blending in the vital connections that are made when we include those we care about into our calendars and schedules, as advised by Andy Stanley in Unexpressed Gratitude. Skeldon shares, “The beautiful thing about shifting from mentoring to discipleship is that you don’t have to create more time, because you don’t have to add anyone to your calendar. You just need to include someone in it. This requires younger Christians [and emerging adults] to be willing to adjust their schedule for the older Christian [professional] who is willing to disciple [mentor] them.” Once again, the Power of Presence is felt deeply when people just show up!

A third recent example where the Power of Presence is articulated is in a devotional by Kirsten Holmberg entitled Being There, where she shares how a person’s actions at a theme park emulated the narrative of Job’s friends in Scripture. “Jen’s actions are a beautiful example of how we can come alongside those who are grieving or suffering…When they arrived, [Job’s] friends sat down with him-for seven days-saying nothing because they saw they depth of his suffering. In their humanness, Job’s friends later offered insensitive advice. But for the first seven days, they gave him the wordless and tender [Power] of Presence.”

Too often, I think we concern ourselves over having just the perfect words to say or being an ideal friend, when we are reminded by Anderson that “Proverbs 27:6 says wounds from a friend can be trusted. My experience confirms that a friend can speak truth, though hard to hear, and it can be heard and received well, because a currency of trust between them exists…It isn’t a thing you can point to, name, and say, ‘There. That’s what you did to hurt me.’ Because the hurt is in the growing gaps and widening spaces of un-involvement and the longer distances that separate.” The absence from someone’s calendar may go unnoticed, but the Power of Presence is a vivid reminder that God is with us.

Anderson offers, “I think Jesus talked about the miracle of being there, in flesh and blood, in tangled hair and cracked knuckles, in dirty fingernails and unshaven face, in morning breath and shallow snores…The first real miracle of Jesus was His presence…Because presence is powerful…Presence sends a message that says, ‘I care about you, I like you, and that’s why I am committed to being around you and with you.” When we choose to show up and stay close, to just be present, “we may be more like Jesus than we realize.”

Do you recall a time when the Power of Presence made a difference in your life? Please share in the comments below so that we can all be inspired to remember the importance of just showing up.

References:

Anderson, S.B. (2020). The space between us: How Jesus teaches us to live together when politics and religion pull us apart. Rodney Anderson, LLC.

Holmberg, K. (2020, December 1). “Being There.” Our Daily Bread. Retrieved from https://odb.org/2020/12/01/being-there

Skeldon, G. (2018). The passion generation: The seemingly reckless, definitely disruptive, but far from hopeless Millennials. Zondervan.

Stanley, A. (2020, November 22). “Give Thanks.” [Audio Podcast]. North Point Community Church. Retrieved from https://northpoint.org/messages/give-thanks