God Is In The Room

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

PSALM 139:7–10

I’D LIKE TO SUGGEST A MOTTO FOR CHRISTIAN FAMILY LIFE: “God is in the room.”

While God is always there, so often we act and think and behave and speak as if he were not. We fight, we argue, we laugh; we play games, watch movies, make love, and do just about everything without even thinking about the implication that God is in the room.

Even though we pray before our common meals, it amazes me how quickly I can slip back into thinking and acting as if the word Amen is a kind of curtain that I pull down in front of heaven. I’ve said my obligatory piece, and now I can carry on as if God has passed over us rather than taken up residence among us.

Think of how differently we might treat our children in those frustrating moments if we responded to them with the knowledge that God is in the room. If we truly believed that the God who designed them and who is passionate about their welfare was literally looking over our shoulders, might we be a little more patient, a little more understanding?

Would we discipline our kids a little differently? Would we pay them more attention?

It’s such a simple notion, but it can be so revolutionary: God is in the room!

I don’t know about you, but I seriously doubt I would so casually raise my voice, or be quite so selfish or lazy if I could see God sitting in my kitchen or living room. Above all, I’d want my children to notice him and acknowledge him, and I think I’d be more likely to focus on the kind of parenting that would please him at any given moment. I’d look to him for encouragement when a child seemed disheartened. I’d ask his advice when a child sought my counsel. I imagine that after doing or saying anything, I’d want to look at him to read his expression.

This would be a blessing, not a burden, and it’s something we can begin to practice. A women’s group that I spoke to made up plaques: “God is in the Room” that they sold so that members could post them in their homes as a constant reminder.

How would parenting change if we talked as if God were in the room? “Honey, how do you think God feels about your attitude right now? Is this pleasing to him?” “I know you’re afraid, but God’s here, in this house. He really is. And he’s watching over all of us, so you can sleep peacefully.”

Tell it to yourself, every morning, every noontime, every evening: God is in the room.

Tell it to each other, every time you’re tempted to yell, or criticize, or ridicule, or even ignore each other: God is in the room.

Tell it to your children, throughout the day: God is in the room.

Let’s keep telling it to ourselves and to each other until we practice it and live it, until we live and breathe with the blessed remembrance: God is in the room.

God is in the room.

Heavenly Father, because you are a loving God, we are so blessed to know that you are always in the room. Let us remember you with worshipful hearts and appropriate reverence. Help us to pass this same awareness on to our children. In Jesus’ name, amen.