Finding God’s presence before finding His answers.David first sought God’s face in quiet worship and meditation. Later, that same relationship overflowed into courageous living, worship, and prayer. Moments like this remind us that God’s presence is still His greatest gift.
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The Good Life While We Wait
“One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek…”
— Psalm 27:4
Last week I had an unusual dream.
In the dream, someone offered me two fruit trees—a grapevine and a pear tree.
“Seventy dollars,” he said.
Immediately, my mind began calculating.
“That’s expensive.”
I hesitated.
I debated.
Then I woke up.
As I lay there thinking, I realized something.
If I had decided to plant an orchard, seventy dollars would have seemed like a bargain.
The price was not beyond my means.
The question for me was about deciding what I wanted.
I have been thinking about that dream all week, because I believe Psalm 27 asks us exactly the same question:
What do you really want?
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Waiting is part of life in Northern Brazil. Rain turns these roads into mud for days at a time. Psalm 27 reminds us that waiting is not the opposite of living. Sometimes it is where God does His deepest work.
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David’s One Thing
David begins Psalm 27 with extraordinary confidence.
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?”
Yet by the end of the psalm, he is still waiting for God to answer.
His enemies have not disappeared.
False witnesses still surround him.
His circumstances have not suddenly become easy.
So where does his confidence come from?
David tells us.
“One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek…”
Not success.
Not safety.
Not revenge.
Not even immediate rescue.
One thing.
To live in God’s presence.
To behold His beauty.
To seek His face.
David has discovered that when one desire becomes greater than every other desire, everything else will find its proper place.
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In remote river communities, life moves at the pace of water, weather, and patience. Perhaps this is why Scripture’s invitation to “wait for the LORD” feels less like theory here.
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A Quiet Echo from the Garden
As I have been memorizing Psalm 27, I have begun wondering whether David is quietly leading us back to the Garden of Eden.
After Adam and Eve sinned, when God wanted to go for a walk with them, they hid.
Fear replaced fellowship.
Blame replaced trust.
Distance replaced intimacy.
But notice David’s different response. When God says,
“Seek My face,”
David leans in.
“My heart said, ‘Your face, LORD, I shall seek.’ “
What a different posture!
David is not a perfect man.
He knows failure.
He knows repentance.
He knows God’s mercy.
More than anything else, he refuses to lose fellowship with God.
It is almost as though he has discovered what humanity was created for in the first place.
Not a perfect life.
A humble, walking friendship with God.
David knew that even when God corrected him, God was still Father, Shepherd, and Friend.
God was on David’s side.
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What I Saw in São Paulo
A few weeks ago, five hundred Vineyard leaders gathered in São Paulo.
Around two hundred traveled from Northern Brazil.
Watching them arrive was deeply moving.
Some had spent days traveling.
Boat.
Bus.
Airplane.
Uber.
Some had stretched their finances beyond what seemed reasonable.
Some left communities where even getting to an airport is a significant journey.
Why would they do that?
Because they wanted to be there.
No one was forcing them.
Their hearts had already decided.
Watching them reminded me of something Jesus often taught.
He spoke often about the poor—not because poverty is inherently good, but because people with fewer possessions often face fewer competing loyalties.
James echoes this when he writes that God has chosen many who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith.
That doesn’t mean wealth is wrong.
Scripture is full of faithful men and women whom God blessed with resources.
But wealth always brings more choices.
More opportunities.
More distractions.
More voices competing for our attention.
Brothers and sisters with fewer material options often remind the rest of us that life becomes remarkably clear when there is one overriding passion.
Perhaps this is why some of the richest people I know spiritually have owned very little materially.
They remind me that the Kingdom is not built by people who have the most.
The Kingdom of God is built by people who want God the most.
Patience is still learned close to the ground—on muddy roads, with animals, under open skies. We passed this cowboy on our way back from Souzel.
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The Good Life While We Wait
I am surprised by how Psalm 27 ends.
Not with victory.
Not with celebration.
Not even with answered prayer.
It ends with waiting.
“I certainly believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.”
David is still waiting.
Yet he already possesses what matters most.
He has not lost the presence of God.
Perhaps this is the great secret of the Christian life.
The good life is not the life where every prayer has already been answered.
It is the life where our deepest desire has already been fulfilled because we have found God Himself.
Everything else becomes something we wait for with hope.
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One Question
So let me leave you with the question David leaves with me.
If someone looked at the decisions you make…
the way you spend your time…
the sacrifices you gladly embrace…
the conversations you most enjoy…
the things that capture your imagination…
What would they conclude is your “one thing”?
The all-in follower of Jesus does not necessarily have an easy life.
David certainly did not.
But the all-in follower can have a deeply good life with God, even while waiting.
Perhaps that is what Eden always pointed toward.
Not merely a beautiful garden.
But a heart that found its true home.
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Eden was never only about a garden. It was about life with God; receiving His provision, trusting His leadership, and enjoying His gifts without hiding.
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A Prayer
Lord Jesus,
Awaken in us a holy desire for You.
Gently expose the distractions that compete for our hearts.
Teach us to seek Your face before we seek Your gifts.
Give us the courage to follow You wholeheartedly, whether our path is easy or costly.
Help us learn from brothers and sisters whose rich faith shines through simple lives.
And while we wait for prayers still unanswered, let us discover that Your presence is already the greatest gift we could ever receive.
