Practice God’s presence in ordinary life.
— adapted from Brother Lawrence
Do you sometimes feel like life hits you with one scud missile after another?
I had one of those days recently.
A fraudulent charge showed up on my credit card, which meant I had to get a new card. Then the new card wouldn’t activate, so I had to call the bank. After that came the automatic payments I needed to update, a jammed paper shredder, meetings to prepare for, and the ordinary household chores that never seem to end.
By the end of the day, I was tired—and angry.
Maybe you’ve had days like that.
It doesn’t take a major crisis to overwhelm us. It’s often the accumulation of little things that does us in.
One more email.
One more phone call.
One more problem.
One more person needing something.
Until something inside us screams:
Stop!
When Your Nervous System Goes Into Go Mode
When we’re overwhelmed, our nervous system often shifts into go, go, go mode.
Our minds race. Our shoulders tighten. We move faster. We become impatient. Everything feels urgent.
And the faster we go, the more overwhelmed we become.
Sometimes the wisest thing we can do is exactly what our body asks for:
Stop. Slow down. Breathe.
Take a deep breath.
Feel your feet on the floor.
Put your hand on your heart.
Let your breathing become slower.
Give your nervous system permission to move out of high alert and rest for a moment.
Before trying to solve the next problem, come back into your body.
And come back to God.
Don’t Become a Slave to Urgency
One of the traps of being overwhelmed is believing everything must be handled right now.
It doesn’t.
You don’t have to solve everything today.
You don’t have to answer every email right away.
And not everything that feels urgent is actually a priority.
When I’m overwhelmed, I’m learning to ask a much simpler question:
What’s the next best thing?
Not the next ten things.
Not tomorrow’s problems.
Just the next one thing.
Maybe it’s making the phone call.
Maybe it’s paying the bill.
Maybe it’s listening to someone.
Maybe it’s taking a few deep breaths.
Practicing God’s Presence
Brother Lawrence was a seventeenth-century Carmelite brother best known through the spiritual classic The Practice of the Presence of God.
His spirituality was simple.
He learned to experience God not by escaping ordinary life, but while living right in the middle of it—while working in the monastery kitchen, surrounded by pots, pans, interruptions, and responsibilities.
He practiced returning to a simple, ongoing conversation with God throughout the day.
That’s contemplative living at street level.
God isn’t waiting for us only in church or during quiet prayer.
God is present in the email.
The phone call.
The traffic.
The interruption.
Even the frustration.
The invitation is to keep coming back.
Because we’ll forget.
We’ll get distracted.
We’ll get irritated.
We’ll fall back into go mode.
And that’s okay too. That’s why we call it “practice.”
The contemplative life isn’t about never wandering.
It’s about returning.
Again and again
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A Spiritual Practice When Life Feels Overwhelming
The next time life throws a bunch of scud missiles at you, try this:
STOP
Pause whatever you’re doing for a moment.
BREATHE
Take a few slow, deep breaths. Feel your feet on the floor. Put your hand on your heart. Let your nervous system settle.
RETURN
Become aware that God is right here with you—in this moment, in this mess, in this ordinary part of your life.
ASK
Quietly ask:
God, what’s the next best thing?
Or:
What’s the most life-giving thing for me to do right now?
LISTEN
Don’t rush to answer.
Wait.
You might sense a thought, a word, a gentle nudge, or inner peace.
And if nothing comes, that’s okay too.
You’re not trying to manufacture an answer.
You’re practicing the presence of God.
ACT
When the next step becomes clear, do it.
Just one thing.
Then, when life starts racing again, come back.
Stop.
Breathe.
Return.
Ask.
Listen.
Act.
And trust God with the rest.
That’s the heart of what Brother Lawrence called practicing the presence of God—and it’s at the heart of the contemplative Divine Flow Lifestyle.
We practice God’s presence in Quiet Time when we intentionally grow still and listen. We also practice it throughout the day—when we feel distracted, overwhelmed, or uncentered.
We return.
Back to our breath.
Back to our heart.
Back to God.
Again and again.
That’s how we learn to live in the Divine Flow—practicing the presence of God, not only in our Quiet Time, but all day long.
So, when life starts piling up, don’t try to figure it all out at once.
Stop.
Take a breath.
Come back to God.
Ask, What’s the next best thing?
Then take that one step—and let God walk with you.
—brian plachta
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What if your spiritual life wasn’t something separate from your everyday life?
The interruptions. The frustrations. The conversations. The ordinary moments when you’re rushing from one thing to the next.
Divine Flow: Reclaiming the Lost Art of Contemplation for Everyday Life is about street-level spirituality—moving faith out of our heads and into our everyday lives.
It offers four simple lifestyle patterns that help us move from merely thinking about God to actually experiencing God—in our relationships, our work, our struggles, and the ordinary moments of each day.
It’s a practical pathway for becoming more present, reconnecting with your True Self, and discovering a deeper, more experiential relationship with God.
Because contemplation isn’t about escaping everyday life. It’s about learning to experience God right in the middle of it.
Explore Divine Flow:
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If you’re seeking a gentler start to your mornings—one you can carry with you into your day to find more inner peace—I invite you to join divineFlow Daily, a free short reflection and quote sent to your inbox each day. In under a minute, it’s meant to help you slow down, breathe, and remember what truly gives life before the noise sets in.
Sign up for divineFlow Daily here.
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