Devotional | Meet With Him Before You Meet With Them

If you don’t already do it, I highly recommend getting up early and being with Jesus. It’s really, really amazing because if you meet with Him before you meet with people, you’re set up to be in a really, really good place.

I get it. It’s a hard place to get into sometimes — that place where you’re living and you’re leaning back against Him, like John the disciple did. He leaned upon Jesus. He was noted as the disciple who knew that he was loved by Jesus (John 13:23).

Guys, when we know we are disciples whom Jesus loves, everything changes. When we know we are accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6), our identity is secure.

It sounds repetitive. People say, “Todd, you only talk about the same thing.” My response? Once we all get it, I’ll move on. Although, I don’t believe we ever fully arrive. I believe we step into deeper and deeper reality of the truth.

If I don’t have a desire inside of me to sit at His feet, it’s because the storm inside is louder than the storm outside. How many times have you shut everything off to be still — and everything got louder?

You hear, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Meanwhile, there’s a storm inside of you that’s crazy.

Your mind doesn’t sit still. It’s loud...

In Mark 4, there’s the account of Jesus and His disciples in the boat where He has just gotten done teaching the multitude. Jesus said, “We’re going to the other side.” They’re in a little fishing boat. Not a cruise ship. Not a battleship. A little boat. And suddenly, they find themselves in a storm at sea. Wild wind. Harsh waves. Remember, these are trained fishermen who know the water, and they’re thinking they’re going to die.

They wake Him up, “Lord, don’t you care?”

He wasn’t fake sleeping. He wasn’t waiting with one eye open. He was fast asleep with a pillow.

Why?

Because the peace inside of Him was greater than the storm around Him.

How many times has the peace inside of us been greater than the storm around us? Really think about that.

That place of leaning back against Him — that’s where peace becomes louder than chaos. That’s where intimacy silences storms before they ever reach your mouth.

The storm didn’t wake Jesus. People’s fear did.

And if you don’t meet with Him before you meet with people, people will experience the storm instead of the peace.

When an orange gets squeezed, orange juice comes out.

When you get squeezed, what comes out?

When a Christian gets squeezed, Jesus should come out.

But sometimes emotions come out. Frustration comes out. Fear comes out.

That means the storm inside is still louder.

And that’s why the secret place matters.

We must learn to sit with Him so that the Prince of Peace inside of us stays louder than the storm outside of us.

Challenge For Today

Before you meet with anyone — meet with Jesus.
Don’t rush. Don’t perform. Lean back against Jesus like John the disciple did.
Let the peace inside become greater than the pressure outside.

Prayer

Father, thank you for the secret place. Thank You that the peace inside of You is greater than any storm around me. Teach me to lean back against Your heart. Silence the noise inside so that Your voice is louder than everything else. Make the Christ in me greater than every circumstance around me. I want to meet with you before I meet with anyone else. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Much peace and grace to you,

Todd White