Apropos

Is this seat taken?

The simplest of questions but the best one to ask at this time. Very apropos as my son would say!

So many meanings, all so relevant. The desire to sit next to. The question of reservation. The posture of sitting. The fight for the seat. The fight for position. The contention for contentment. The desire to escape…

“No – you can have mine”, was my first reaction. All I wanted was some peace, some solitude, some time out. The absence of company.

I found myself in the cinema, usually a place where I can breathe and have some space. But no! Two guys came and sat next to me, and then proceeded to talk loudly about meaningless stuff.

I sat there. Annoyed, looking to move, looking to tell them off, looking to shut them up. I felt the tension rising, the temperature rising, my pulse rising. Just as I was about to stand up and yell “shut up!”, there was an intervention!

My arm shook violently, as it does when the Lord shows up. As the supernatural invaded the natural. Instantly without grabbing attention there was peace all around, and the talking stopped.

Then the question from the Lord “Is this seat taken?”

What the heck!

Can I just sit with you? Can I just be near you? I know that you crave physical touch, closeness, proximity of the one you love. Can I just sit right next to you? Can I just be near you? Is this seat taken?

I’m so tense, I’m so tired.

I feel the constraint, the restraint, the pummelling, the waves crashing over me on all sides. Can I not just have a break? Can I not just have some space?

I tell everyone “I’m really tired, and I’m having the day off.” You would think this would give me some space, but no! My body aches, my head aches, my soul aches, my tooth aches. So off to the dentist I go, only to find at the end of a day of tests that the problem is – wait for it!

“You are deficient in vitamin B. This usually occurs when your body has not had enough sleep!”

This was so ridiculous, so apropos, that all I could do was laugh!

There is that word again “apropos”. When I first typed it, I left off the silent “s” so it came up as a spelling error. So I had to look it up. This is what the dictionary said…

“At an opportune time” or “by way of interjection: with regard to the present topic”

Thanks for the interjection Lord, thanks for the reminder of the opportune time.

Galatians 6:9 And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint. Isaiah 40:27-29 Why, O Jacob, do you say, and declare, O Israel, My way and my lot are hidden from the Lord, and my right is passed over without regard from my God? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint or grow weary; there is no searching of His understanding. He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength causing it to multiply and making it to abound. For I have not passed you over, I have not passed by without notice. Here I am. I’m right here. Can I sit? Do you mind if I sit with you? Will you not sit with me? Is this my question to you, or your question to me? There is no contention for this seat. I have reserved your seat. It has your name written on it. But I have left a seat for me right next to yours. Will you take your seat? 2 Chronicles 20:17 You shall not need to fight in this battle; take your positions, stand still, and see the deliverance of the Lord Who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Fear not nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you. Take up your position. Take a seat. Sit down. Be seated. The enemy says – all this sitting is killing you. Yet I say take a seat! Who has your ear? Who have you allowed to sit next to you? Exodus 33:14 The Lord replied, “I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest—everything will be fine for you.” I will give you peace, my presence will attend to it. Peace shall attend to your way. What is it before you, what did you see, what was showing on the big screen, when I intervened, when I showed up?

Streams of the promise, a waterfall flowing over the stage. Many colours, water rolling over the many precious stones, crashing over them. It looked like the stones we broken by the stream, but it was sparks, it was like fireworks in the stream, where the stones gave of their essence, brought colour to the stream, but were not diminished by it.

Behold the stream is before you, it flows before you, I promise. Take a seat and watch my glory flow.