The One Thing That Changes Everything

What if everything you've been chasing in life—the promotion, the relationship, the security, the satisfaction—could never actually fulfill you? What if the deepest longing of your heart could only be satisfied by one thing?

King David, a man who had slain giants, commanded armies, and been anointed as the future king of Israel, found himself hiding in a cave. His circumstances were dire. The current king, Saul, was hunting him down despite David's faithful service. Separated from family, isolated from friends, unable to access the temple where God's presence dwelt, David faced a season of profound darkness.

Yet in this moment of desperation, David didn't cry out for deliverance from his enemies. He didn't beg for his circumstances to change. Instead, he made this stunning declaration in Psalm 27:4:

"One thing I ask of the Lord, and that is what I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple."

One thing. Not many things. Not a list of demands. Just one singular desire that drove everything else in his life: the manifested, abiding presence of God.

Understanding God's Presence

Throughout Scripture, God reveals His presence in two primary ways. First, there's His omnipresence—God is everywhere at all times. He's in the mountains and the valleys, in the heavens and the depths of the sea. You cannot flee from His spirit.

But David wasn't asking for God's omnipresence. He was longing for something more intimate—the manifested or abiding presence of God. This is when God shows up at a particular time and place in a tangible, unmistakable way. It's the burning bush with Moses. It's the glory cloud in the temple. It's those moments when you don't just know God is here, but you experience Him being here—present, powerful, personal.

This is what David craved more than safety, more than vindication, more than victory.

Why This Should Be Our Greatest Desire

It's Our Greatest Need

We live in a world obsessed with two things: safety and satisfaction. We pursue careers, relationships, possessions, and experiences, believing they'll make us secure and whole. But nothing in this world can satisfy a longing that was created to be filled by God alone.

David understood this truth. Even while Saul's army pursued him, David declared: "The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1)

His security wasn't found in his position, his season, or his circumstances, but in the presence of God. And remarkably, from a cave while running for his life, David wrote: "I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy, and I will sing and make melody to the Lord" (Psalm 27:6).

It's easy to worship when life is good. The real test comes when the rug gets pulled out from under you. That's when you discover where your true source of joy comes from.

C.S. Lewis captured this truth perfectly when he wrote: "God made us... God designed the human machine to run on himself. He himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other."

Try running your car on water instead of gasoline—it won't work. Similarly, we cannot run on anything other than what we were designed to run on. God is the fuel. His presence is the food. Nothing else will do.

The Central Story of Scripture

Here's something that might reshape how you understand the Bible: the central theme of Scripture isn't primarily about you going to heaven when you die. It's about God's abiding presence with His people as the source of life.

This thread runs from Genesis to Revelation:

Creation: God creates humanity in His image, uniquely capable of communing with Him. He places them in the Garden of Eden—a temple garden where His manifested presence dwells. He walks with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day.

The Fall: When sin enters, humanity is banished from the garden—cut off from God's abiding presence. This is the tragedy.

The Covenants: God pursues His people. He makes covenants with Abraham and Moses with three key promises: "I will be your God, you will be my people, and my presence will dwell among you."

The Exodus: God appears to Moses in a burning bush—His manifested presence. He leads His people through the wilderness with a cloud by day and fire by night. When the cloud stopped, they stopped. When it moved, they moved. Why? Because humanity was created to be led by the abiding presence of God.

The Tabernacle and Temple: God commands the construction of a dwelling place where His presence would live among His people. At its center was the Holy of Holies, where God's glory dwelt.

The Incarnation: John 1:14 says, "The word became flesh and dwelt among us." The word "dwelt" literally means "tabernacled." Jesus is God's presence in human form—Emmanuel, God with us.

The Cross: When Jesus died, the curtain in the temple tore from top to bottom. The separation was removed. Now through Christ, we have full access to God's presence.

Pentecost: The Holy Spirit fills believers, giving supernatural power. God's presence is no longer just with us but inside us.

The Church: Ephesians 2:21-22 says believers are "being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit." The church becomes the temple—God's dwelling place on earth.

The New Creation: Revelation describes a new heaven and earth with a new garden. "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man and he will dwell with him and they will be his people and God himself will be their God" (Revelation 21:3). The covenant is fulfilled forever.

The story begins in a garden with God's presence. Sin interrupts it. God pursues humanity throughout history. And the story ends in a garden once again—this time with God's presence never to be interrupted.

Living the Abiding Life

So how do we experience this manifest presence now? It begins with personal consecration—recognizing that sin grieves the Holy Spirit and interrupts His work in our lives. We must keep short accounts with God, immediately confessing and turning from sin.

Then comes communion—praying without ceasing, talking with God throughout the day. Not just in formal prayer times, but constant conversation. Walking down the hallway, sitting in a meeting, driving to work—"Lord, I need your wisdom here. Thank you for your goodness. Help me in this moment."

This requires submission—immediate obedience to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. When He says to encourage someone, we do it. When He redirects our plans, we follow. He must be in charge, not us.

Finally, we join Him in what He's doing. The Holy Spirit is always making much of Jesus, spreading the gospel, displaying Christ's love. We simply stay in step with whatever He's doing.

The One Question

Here's the question that matters: If God were to give you the one thing you desire most, would you have more from Him or more of Him?

Would you have another blessing, another answer to prayer, another gift? Or would you have Him—His presence, His glory, His nearness?

David chose the latter. From a cave, running for his life, he declared that one thing mattered: dwelling in God's presence, gazing upon His beauty, experiencing His nearness.

When you truly understand who Jesus is—when you glimpse His glory and majesty—it captures you like nothing else. Other things may be good, but nothing compares to Him. He becomes the one thing you desire above everything else.

This is the life we were created for. Not just heaven someday, but His manifest presence today and every day, forever and ever.

One thing. One desire. One pursuit that changes everything.