“I’m a sit right here with You.”
My dear friend shared these original words with me the other day, expressing how she felt in her own relationship with God. She shared how hard the current season of life had been and how she had come to the conclusion that she wasn’t caving in or giving up. In her words expressed to Jesus – “I’m a sit right here with You.”
What I got from those words was, He was ALREADY present in her hard situation – already sitting with her, in order for her to be able to respond so intimately.
Never Alone: Here With You
It really struck me. We are never alone. We can feel so overwhelmed and alone, yet if we but look up and look across the table, there He is. Always there and always present, and always waiting on US.
I was listening to a short two-minute message from Mark Hall of the band Casting Crowns. He talked about Psalm 23, and his revelation of how God prepares a table IN the midst of our enemies. I sobbed all two minutes, start to finish. So simple. We are surrounded by enemies whispering, mocking, accusing, and waiting on our demise from our sufferings. But God. He sets up a table in their presence!
The Table With You
I picture this table experience like a picnic lunch being spread out on an eroding shoreline in the middle of a raging storm forming off of an angry sea. Who does that? God. Because He CAN! He is so NOT worried or concerned about our enemies – His only focus is on US. Here with you.
He comes to assure us that we are NOT alone. He doesn’t come with anything but Himself. Wow. He is enough and MORE than enough. I so want to grasp this! For my friend who experienced this, her response was exactly perfect. I am NOT going anywhere, Lord. NOT going to acknowledge my enemies standing behind me. I am NOT going to bail. NOT going to try to even escape ‘this’. I am going to just sit right here with You Lord. Just me and You Jesus. That is enough. Here with You.
Visualize The Table
Powerful! Let’s read it again though you’ve heard it a million times – “Thou preparest a table before me, in the presence of my enemies.” (Psalm 23) Visualize what this looks like for YOU! Where do you see Him setting up a table for you? Treehouse? Ornate dining room? Corner cafe? Somewhere in a vast silent wilderness? Lonely prison cell? Middle of a crowded noisy street in Times Square? Quiet hospital room? Secluded cabin in the mountains? Smack dab on the shore of a raging sea? Wherever you see this table is set, make sure you add yourself in.
A table setting is a place of communion (remember the Last Supper), a place of family gatherings, sharing, comfort, security, intimacy, and love. Whether a tea party between a grandmother and grandchild or Sunday dinner at moms, a set table says YOU are welcome, I am here with you!
The King’s Table
Remember Mephibosheth, the crippled and forgotten son of Jonathan? King David sends for Mephibosheth, bringing him out of his lonely existence straight to the King’s table (keyword here – Table). He restores to him his family fortune, his good name, his inheritance. Mephibosheth felt unworthy and next to nothing and literally could barely look David in the eye because he felt so broken. “So David said to him, ‘Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather, and you shall eat bread at my TABLE continually.’” (2 Samuel 2:7) He who had had nothing, now had everything restored to him simply by sitting at the King’s table.
Feeling Alone
For me, I can feel very much alone in my personal solo journey I am on. I hear the voices of my enemies. And sense their foul breath breathing nearby. I smell their evil. It is suffocating sometimes to feel so alone. But then. Then Jesus Himself shows up. He just strolls over to me, in all His power and glory that is immersed in His being. Doesn’t even have to show up with chariots, and swords, and roaring lions. He could do that, but really He doesn’t have to. For He is Jesus. That is enough. And He sets a table for me…here with you.
He comes to be with me, in my mess. He comes to just BE. I just need to pull out my own chair and sit down. Once I am seated, I am safe. I am welcome. And I am loved. I am here with you.
Final Words: Here With You
I pray that those of you who feel chased, who feel alone, who feel like it is all just too much, will just sit down with Jesus. You are not alone. Not for a moment would He leave you to fight by yourself. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them (your enemies) for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)
So pull out your chair and sit down at His table. Look Him in the eye and say, “I’m a sit right here with You.”
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