God Indwelling

Yesterday I worked for several hours on this reflection. This morning I just knew it wasn’t enough. Much too analytical and not nearly as loving as the Gospel is for this Sunday. So, I invite you into the silence of my prayer room, where I will breathe deeply and ask God to allow me to be His instrument.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is again speaking to the disciples about leaving them. But, with tender eyes and a calm and reassuring voice, Jesus explains that even though He goes from their sight, he is not gone from their lives. All they need do is seek him, and not only He, but God His Father, will be not just with them but within them.

Jesus begins where He always begins. Encouraging the disciples not to be afraid and giving them first His gift of peace. We all think we know what peace is, but Jesus clarifies. I give you peace but not as the world gives it. I believe what He is telling us is that we all know how fragile and tentative the world’s peace is. The killing begins again before the ink is dry on a peace treaty.  

The peace Jesus is talking about is not just the absence of conflict. His peace is a state of being where no matter what surrounds us. The state of our world, our community, our family’s needs, the unrest we might meet as we travel the roads of our lives, His peace is the deepest well within us. All we need do is go to the well of His Peace that springs within us, and we will be given the sustenance we need to bring Jesus into our world and calm the storms that swirl around us.  

This is a gift that we should never let get dusty on the closet shelf of our soul or leave unused in the back of the junk drawer of our hearts. Jesus’ gift of peace is something that we need every single day. It is a way of living and a way of approaching the world. Jesus gives us a gift that helps us meet the challenges of life, great and small, without giving in to the temptation to embrace despair or collapse from the weight of the temporal challenges we face. Jesus’ peace can overwhelm our hearts even when tears pour from our eyes and our heart breaks over the loss of someone we love.

The Gospel gives us a promise. It is a promise that is often overlooked because we cannot fathom how it could be so. Jesus says, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” 

Hear that line again because it can give us a new understanding of God.  

“Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” 

So often, I have lost sight of God’s indwelling within me. I have prayed with fervor and sometimes desperation to the God “out there,” wanting Him to swoop in and make whatever difficulty I was facing better. Yet, sometimes God has seemed so far beyond my reach, and he was always right here within me, saying, “You are looking the wrong way. Turn around. Look within. I am already here. Rely on me. I’ve got you.”

God dwells within the hearts of those who seek Him. He is there forever and for always. God is abiding within us with the power of His love. We need only allow ourselves to sink deeply into the depths of our souls. The warmth of His love and the depth of His peace will take us through the most challenging times. It will also grant us the everyday countenance of love that will make us one with Him. God abides with us. He is ours, and we are His.

In God’s Unending Love,

Gwen