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“Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name; the upright shall dwell in your presence.” Psalm 140:13 (ESV)

Have you noticed that scrolling is our newest skill? Anyone can do it. Doesn’t take a lot of practice. Comes ever so easily. We scroll effortlessly through texts, tweets, instagrams, pinterests and posts as if they don’t even exist. And yes, sometimes I scroll right past something I shouldn’t have missed in the pursuit of looking for what I wanted to find.

MicroSoft defines the average attention span to be an outrageous eight seconds in our electronic world. Easy to see why God invited me to “linger” in 2018. It’s the word that kept rising to the surface when I was working on goals and searching for His inspiration in my new year. Didn’t sound impressive or glorious, yet He wouldn’t let me dismiss it.

You would think this Bible Study girl would be thrilled that the God of the universe longs for her attention. But she’s grown accustomed to skimming, skipping over and just simply browsing to get to what she wants. Linger evokes feelings of boredom, delay and stillness – not my best talents ever. Perhaps that’s the very reason God insists I learn to linger with Him. To slow down, remain and stay in His presence even if I long to move on.

The researcher in me just had to see what’s the deal with this word “linger,” and what I found was utterly amazing. Linger is a reluctance to move…a planting of self in one place. It’s a hesitation to leave because what’s there is worth so much more than anything else could ever be. It’s a desire to remain because staying is so worth it. It’s a slow parting because we really don’t ever want to leave.
Fave one of all comes from Mr. Webster himself – linger simply means to remain alive (lingering on) though gradually dying. Gotta say this one grabbed my attention – being connected and fully engaged with God keeps us flourishing and alive even though our human bodies are dying.

God invites and beckons us to be fully satisfied in His presence – that sweet friend is linger. He delights in us staying long enough to hear what He is saying. He finds great pleasure in our pursuit of Him. Staying, remaining, reluctant to leave. A planting of ourselves at His feet where grace, forgiveness, wisdom and love are found.

“Father, Your invitation to linger is available to us all. Praying we desire more and more of You than ever before.”

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Women’s Life