Month: January 2020

Life

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You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit. Job 10:12 | NIV84  

Oxford Living Dictionaries provided two definitions for the word Providence.

  • “The protective care of God or of nature as a spiritual power.”
  • “Timely preparation for future eventualities.”

Today I want to focus more on the second bullet point, “Timely preparation for future eventualities.”  This tiny explanation says a whole lot. We, as humans, have very little insight into the happenings of tomorrow. We can, at best, guess this or that may happen based on what we interpret by what is going on today, but we cannot know indefinitely what tomorrow may bring. Unless the Lord reveals exactly what’s coming tomorrow or the next day, or even within the next few years, we simply do not know. We can go about our lives planning on marriage, planning for children, planning to buy a house, planning a vacation or even plan for retirement. We can sort of project what finances are required to do such things and sometimes they work out, but most often it never goes quite as we had planned or even hoped. Sometimes it’s better and other times it’s not. People experience failed marriages, lost children and job layoffs.  

For Job to acknowledge God’s providence over his soul demonstrates his deeper understanding that what was currently transpiring was very much something God knew would somehow benefit Job in the long run. And keep in mind, Job was experiencing a huge amount of suffering. Job recognized that God had allowed these things to happen to him and he knew it was somehow for the good.  

I think sometimes we lose our focus and go right into problem-solving mode instead of stepping back, and taking a moment to really ponder what’s happening. With the giant things we are faced with, we may very well be more prone to lean on God more diligently; to have our ears more in tune with hearing God’s voice and sensing His direction. Such things are good and should be so, but I am more or less speaking of the things that are not so catastrophic. Things that are troublesome, but things that we can handle without overwhelming struggles. I am of the perspective that everything happens for a reason, even the bad things we come face-to-face with. I believe that God is continually speaking, and if we are willing, continually teaching us.  

Sometimes, we have a hard time hearing God’s voice or quite honestly, we are not paying attention because we have become accustom to being self-reliant. We can laugh and joke about God trying to grab our attention by allowing certain things to happen to disrupt our busy lives, but I assure you when God is speaking, it is no laughing matter. It is inevitable that He is looking to prepare you for something that’s coming down the road that you are unaware of. It is “Timely preparation for future eventualities.”  

Sometimes, God speaks by closing doors to things in our lives we have worked so hard to obtain and it can be very frustrating. So frustrating that we will attempt to open a locked door thinking that the door closed accidentally or maybe even Satan closed the door. Ever try to open a locked door without the key? Depending on the type of door, you could try to knock it down or climb over it, but no matter which you choose, you will have to exert a large amount of effort and energy with the possibility of ending up getting nowhere. It could cost you time, money and even bodily damage. If we are not paying attention to the Holy Spirit, we may very well keep on trying to break into a locked door. Sometimes, if we are persistent enough, God will allow us to break the door down and this is never good. God may very well have made the door so tough that when you finally break it down, another one stands in its way. If we just keep on trying to push our way through places we are not meant to trod, or at least, not right now, it almost always ends up in disaster.  

Every door in our lives that is meant to be opened has a key and God is the owner of that key. How will you know which door to unlock if you cannot hear His voice?  

If you have never ice-skated before and you try out for the High School hockey team, it’s almost certain you will not get much, if any, playing time during the games. It is often said that practice makes perfect. If you take ice skating lessons, learn how to maneuver on the ice and how to handle the stick, and learn how to hit a puck into the goal, the odds of you being able to play in a game rises. At first, the coach may allow you to play for a few seconds during the last quarter towards the very end of the game, but he most likely will not let you play if the game is critical, if there’s a tie or if the other team’s aggressiveness is beyond your abilities. It’s because you are not ready to be placed into such a competitive situation and he could be preventing a serious injury. The more you set your mind to learning how to skate and play hockey, the better you become. If you were to rush out onto the ice trying to force your way into the game, barely knowing how to skate, you will fall down on your butt or get knocked over by another player. You will put yourself in harm’s way and you could even put others in harm’s way as well. To try to rush things that you are not ready for isn’t good. This is not only true with sports, but with anything in life, including hearing God’s voice. It takes practice and a lot of patience.

God is our Heavenly Father. For those of you who didn’t have a good earthly father, I want to assure you that God is nothing like your earthly father. When I use the term ‘father’, I am referring to the idea of what all of us desire deep inside our heart, that is, for someone to love and protect us unconditionally. We desire for Someone who we can lean upon for guidance and acceptance. When God created mankind, he allowed a hole to develop within our heart that only He can fill because He is the answer to all of life’s questions. God, like a parent, desires the best for us, but we must first learn how to listen and how to have faith that whatever it is He says, that it’s the right thing regardless of what you may feel or think. I know this isn’t easy to hear, but it is necessary for the building up of your soul, the real you.   If God keeps closing the door, stop trying to force it open. Have faith that God knows what is best for you in the present as well as in the future, and concerning the door that you cannot open right now, walk away from it for the time being. Instead, learn how to listen and how to follow God’s quiet and gentle leading. Trust in Him that He will lead you to what will edify your soul and build up your faith because once you have learned to securely lean upon Him, He will hand you the keys to the right doors.  

Blessings to you on your journey of spiritual wisdom.  

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 | NIV84  

Meet with God

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I find it rather interesting that most often believers today feel pretty confident in their relationship with God. They feel so confident that they may not even feel the need to press into knowing God at a deeper level. It is as if whatever little they know is enough, and honestly, I have found myself there at times too. It seems to be somewhat of a mystery to me why complacently seems to be woven into the threads of modern-day Christianity. Have we found ourselves so comfortable that we don’t see the need or feel the urge to really surrender all of who we are to God? Has life been so good to us that God is only an afterthought of a fun-filled day full of feasting and fellowship?

Moses, outside of Jesus, was one of the greatest men to have walked upon the earth. One could surmise that Moses knew God, after all, he spent countless hours on Mt. Sinai basking in the very presence of the Almighty. Moses heard the physical voice of God and saw many visions, perhaps, too many to comprehend. God revealed things to Moses that we could only dream of not only knowing, but understanding. Moses loved God and trusted Him wholeheartedly. When I look into the life of Moses, I yearn for the kind of relationship he had with God. Moses shared an intimacy with God that I have barely come to understand, but what is even more amazing is that what closeness Moses felt with God, wasn’t enough.

”If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.” Exodus 33:13 | NIV84

When I read these words, they seem like a desperate cry, a deep longing coming right from the heart of Moses and yet, I wonder, didn’t he already know God intimately? A more humbling realization is where is my cry? You see, God is infinite, meaning, there is no end to Him. It’s hard to comprehend such a thought because even the Universe has an end, but God does not. I can’t grasp the thought no matter how intelligent I may try to present myself as being. Moses knew God, but yet there was so much more to know and understand that it produced an unquenchable deep longing within his soul to cry out to God in desperation… ‘…teach me your ways so I may know you…’

Paul, the preacher to the Gentiles and the author of most of the New Testament, had an intimate relationship with God. Paul experienced many wonderful miracles and preached to thousands of people the message of Christ. Thousands flocked to hear Paul preach and to be healed. He walked in the power of Christ… and yet, even that was not enough for Paul.

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, Philippians 3:10 | NIV84

Wouldn’t one think that Paul knew Christ? It seems to me that there are a great number of people today that proclaim to know Christ, but yet I wonder when I look to Moses and to Paul. Here are just two examples from Scripture where you can clearly see that these men walked with God, but, for them, walking with God was not enough. The more they cleaved unto the bosom of God, the more they desired to know Him and the more they despised themselves. In their relationship with God, they didn’t become boastful at all, but rather, they became more humble in knowing how finite they really were before the Infinite Loving God. Their call out to God in desperation can be compared to the longing of a lover who hasn’t seen their beloved and how they cannot wait for their return. They pant after the moments they shared and how they can’t wait to share those sweet, precious moments once again only to get to know their lover even more intimately. That they may become more increasingly as one.

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth–  for your love is more delightful than wine. Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens love you! Take me away with you–let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers. Song of Solomon 1:2-4a | NIV84

So should our love and desire be for God. Moses felt it, Paul felt it and even David experienced it as well. Like a hound dog on the scent trail of rabbit, so should the longing of being in the presence of the LORD God be.

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? Psalms 42:1-2 | NIV84

Throw away the fading lifeless treasures that hold you back from running freely and gladly unto the Lord. Open your arms and cleave unto Him as a woman so loves her man. We are made in the very image of God, that meaning, we possess a part of God, the eternal part, the soul and the soul longs for its beloved to be reunited in the fullness of love and intimacy. A relationship with God is more than just understanding who He is. We can understand how a tree forms and grows in all of it’s amazing beauty, but you cannot know a tree intimately. A relationship with God is about surrendering your whole being, learning to fully trust Him and allowing Him into the secret parts of your soul that only He can go. There within lies the satisfaction of the deep longing of the soul. It is when the created becomes one with its Creator. God is the perfect Lover for your soul. So, drop everything, run and go meet with God.