This is a picture of me with friends I was visiting in southern California. I have been friends with Carlin since the fourth grade, and it was great getting to see him and his wife Jennifer (the one in between us in the picture) as well as lots of other friends I am not going to list. Good times were had by all.
In fact, one thing that has been consistent on my road trip (I have been gone from home since July 29) is how excited and encouraged I am about what God is doing in people's lives and the growth that has been happening. Thankfully this has been true uniformly with my friends, and although they are obviously all at different places, the trajectory is very similar.
During these times I can't seem to get this song line that I heard out of my head: "I don't wanna talk about you, like you're not in the room." The song is being sung to God by someone who never wants to go back to the time of not knowing God personally.
Upon contemplation, I believe that is the unifying principle of the people I have gotten to spend time with. They are all in different seasons of life, have different beliefs, different jobs, but despite all those differences they all know that God is really with them, and they speak about him personally.
I think that might be why when worried people ask God questions, instead of mapping out strategies, foretelling future events, or giving people lists of things to believe, he almost always tells them "I will be with you." Because once you realize God is in the room, life is never the same again.
