Grief’s Unexpected Journey: 15 Comforting Devotions After Losing Someone You LoveSample

Everyday Awareness

The Practice of the Presence of God is a book of collected teachings by seventeenth-century monk Brother Lawrence, who had a special, everyday way of connecting with God. Through the years, his words have inspired Jesus lovers around the world to simplify their faith and live humbly with their Maker. Brother Lawrence said his faith consisted of “speaking humbly and conversing lovingly with Him all the time, at every moment, without rule or measures”. The monk was known especially for making mundane tasks sacred, simply by turning his heart toward God at all times. This may not seem imaginable for some of us in the busy world we inhabit, but the idea is that this practice can truly help us in our times of grief.

Here’s how it works: Our minds tend to wander, and especially when we’re walking through a tough season, our thoughts can bring us down. Whether we’re doing laundry, wandering through the grocery store aisles, or even talking with a friend, our focus can be on our sadness, and we can find ourselves just going through the motions. At these moments, it’s good to ask ourselves, How aware of God’s presence am I right now? Just as Brother Lawrence described, it doesn’t take much but a turning of our hearts toward Him.

Walking through life with our Creator can help to lighten our spirits and give us a hope-filled outlook. It reminds us that nothing we do is meaningless— and that God cares about it all. It may take a while to remember Him in all the little things we experience in a day, but the more we do, the more peace we’ll know “For He himself is our peace,” says Ephesians 2:14 (NIV), which speaks of Jesus, our forever-connector with the Father. We can make a habit of conversing with Him in our everyday moments and take comfort in how that connection shines through all we do.

Lord, thank You that You are always with us, even in the everyday things. Help me to be more aware of Your presence each day.