A hostile world! I call to God, I cry to God to help me. From his palace he hears my
call; my cry brings me right into his presence — a private audience!
Psalm 18:6 (Day 22 of the Daily Message)

I remember once, when I was in college and my mom had driven up for a visit, she took me to dinner at the Hamburger Hamlet in Westwood Village. The dinner, served hot, and on real plates stood in stark contrast to the steady diet of Top Ramen and hot dogs comprising the bulk of my collegiate meals. As we were eating, my mom took a pen from her purse and wrote on an unwound paper napkin ring. She slid it across the table to me. It read: “Magic Johnson.”

Magic Johnson?

Puzzled, I looked up from the note. She silently mouthed the words: “He’s right behind you.” Nervous, and not all that subtly, I turned to get a glimpse of one of my childhood heroes. I was somewhat disappointed to see that he opted for street clothes, instead of the Lakers purple and gold uniform. Why would anyone, once they get to be a Laker, ever wear anything else? I turned back to look at my mom trying to figure out how to get Magic to invite me over to his house. I was certain we’d be friends. I don’t remember much of anything else at the meal. Just to be next to him, felt like I had somehow become a part of the mystique — his mystique. My life and his legendary life intersected in that moment — burgers, french onion soup, two athletes bound to be friends (I’m convinced he’s writing about it now on his own blog). The dinner had a new focus now. Before that moment, I was catching up with my mom, grateful for a meal that didn’t need to be prepared in a styrofoam cup. But now, everything was about Earvin “Magic” Johnson.

David, the Psalmist here,  writes “my cry brings me right into his presence.” For a lot of us, we tend to understand God to be primarily distant — a celebrity who might be polite to us but to whom, we’re generally unremarkable. Only, it is His delight, His desire that He would be with us. So we, rather than worrying if we’re interrupting His meal or fearing that we might be turned away for trying to get a quick picture or an autograph, we’re invited into a “private audience” simply because we cry out to Him. When we get to be with Him, it’s in His presence that everything DOES change. We were designed to be with Him and to build our lives around Him.

What does it look like to cry out to Him? In joy? In despair? In loneliness? In wonder?

Join us this week as we hear from Doug Fields in his second of three messages in the BEAUTIFUL MESS series on parenting. We heard so much great feedback last week. It is a great opportunity to invite people who are presently parents, soon-to-be parents, or people looking to receive some healing from the way they were parented.

See you Sunday,
Jeff