God's Presence

I had just hit the gym with Eric, one of my best friends, and he had taken me to get McDonald's. As we sat down in his dorm’s lounge we talked about the things that college guys normally talk about, but eventually, we got to the subject of God. He shared the struggles he had gone through over the summer and I shared mine. As we concluded our conversation, he asked if he could pray for me and I agreed. As he was praying I heard words from him about things I hadn’t told him and I knew it was God working through him and speaking to me. After him I prayed for his struggles, though it was a half hearted prayer. My mind was still on what he said. I had finally heard God speaking to me after what seemed like too long. After a fall into sin, I felt ashamed and for some reason couldn’t get myself to believe I was forgiven and loved by God. But finally, after weeks, I heard God's comforting words through a friend. As I left his dorm building and headed towards mine, I cried out to God and worshipped him, I looked at the stars and was reminded of His majesty and I asked the Lord to let me be in his presence, to reveal himself to me once more. Then I told him that he didn’t need to, I already knew I was in his presence. But as I was almost to my dorm at twelve in the morning, I heard a car slow down and stop next to me as two of my friends greeted me. I walked in the road and talked for a while with them. It wasn’t until the car left and I kept walking that I realized. God was in the car, it was He who brought it to the exact place at the exact time to stop next to me so that I could be once more comforted by two of my friends. The moment seemed meaningless at first yet I knew with all my heart that God cared so much about me that He was willing to remind me of His presence. He brought three of the friends I loved most, during a time that I needed it most. God isn’t a being that sits in heaven and observes, He is a Father who deeply loves and engages.