God Is Always Present

Our life's journey takes us to all elevations.  We have joy-filled mountain top experiences i.e.: marriage, birth of children and grandchildren, buying your first home or car and successfully accomplishing goals.  But there are also seasons in life when we travel the valley floor and experience challenges through losses of all kinds.  And with Jesus as our traveling companion, He makes life do-able.

 

When we are cresting high He makes the heights more brilliant and opens wide our understanding of spiritual things. He fills us to overflowing.  How we hunger for those times.  We feel Abba Father's presence, close and intimate.  It reminds me of how the disciples must have felt.  Jesus was present; life was intimately shared.  His lessons and his words were deeper than the ocean, inspiring and life changing.

 

Too often in life the path turns downward and we find ourselves walking through the wilderness.  Hope is fading.  Life seems to be ebbing.  The walk is endless, exhausting.  If it were a forest it would be rocky cliffs with high mountains to climb and overgrown with thorns. If it were a desert it would be blazing hot with no water, no tree for shade, and no hope of finding rest or sustenance.  Just loneliness. Fear. Doubt. Confusion. Hopelessness.  How well I remember feeling I would not make it another moment – let alone another day.

 

Regardless of what your wilderness looks and feels like one thing stays the same....the cry of our hearts.  “My God, my God – why have you forsaken me?”  Where are you?  I can't feel you?!  I cannot sense your nearness!  He has left me.  Lord, answer me! Many ask why – why does God allow us to go through these wilderness experiences and these times when it feels as though he has abandoned us.  Why does he stay quiet?  Why doesn't he intervene in the midst of my pain and stop it sooner?  While I do not pretend to know all the answers to all of these questions the following word picture came to me in my mind regarding where Abba Father is when I cannot sense Him.

 

I liken it to the parent/grandparent who is teaching a child to ride a bike.  As we teach and instruct we grab hold of the bike seat with a firm, steadying grip.  We run alongside of our dear little one and encourage and instruct on how to stay upright and steady and safe.  Back and forth we go, holding steadily and firmly, instilling confidence and strength.

 

But there comes a point when we have to let go.  With our heart in our throats we let go and watch our kid go like the wind.  Alone and wobbly, their sweaty, little hands grip the handle bars that careen back and forth a little too much for our well-being.  Now stop.  Where is the parent?  The good parent does not leave.  We are near – watching, praying and rooting our child forward on life's journey.

 

Here are a few lessons we can learn about Abba Father from this analogy.

 

~When we are wondering where God is remember – like a loving parent trotting behind the child – HE is never far away.  All we have to do is call out his name and he is there.  Remember what your father has told you –

 

Deuteronomy 3:16 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them.  FOR THE LORD YOUR GOD IS WITH YOU.  HE WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU.”

 

~Like any parent knows, we must release our child so they can ride alone.  When we release them it is with the hope that they will remain dependent upon that which we have taught them.  The ride involves learning what is truth and adhering to it.  When we do not, we crash.  Adhering to what we have been taught is crucial in keeping us on the straight and narrow path or to keep us upright and cruising along.  Remember – our dependence upon God alone is crucial -

 

 “But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in time of trouble. The LORD helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in Him.  Psalm 37:39-40

 

 ~ Through the highs and lows of life, God is revealing himself to us.  He is using our life circumstances as the canvas upon which he can reveal his personality – his faithfulness and trustworthiness.  He desires that we trust Him without question.  As human parents, our desire is for our children to obey us without question because we know we teach them truth. To ensure safety and abundant life we teach and enforce in hopes that our children will not question the life-giving path in which we lead them.  In short, our children grow to have faith in us through our love and instruction.  

 

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.  James 1:6

 

Unwavering Faith in our father's presence is important!  Besides what other option is there? 

 

“I'd rather walk in the dark with God

Than go alone in the light;

I'd rather walk by faith with him

Than go alone by sight. - Anonymous”

Dont Be Discouraged!

Oh, its hard to learn the lesson,

As we pass beneath the rod,

That the sunshine and the shadow

Serve alike the will of God. - Anonymous

Whether we like it or not life is sprinkled with hard times. There is no getting around it. In fact the Bible promises us that we will have hard times.

Jesus is quoted in John 16:33 “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

I recently read a story about Casey Seymour, a successful soccer player and coach. He always has his team run a 10 x 100 drill at the end of practice. Before the men can leave the field they must run at full speed - with minimal rest - 100 yards ten times. If they dont beat a prescribed time they have to do it again. The men hate it until the day of the game. Each game they find that they can play at full capacity for the entire match. Their effort has been rewarded with a championship!

We are all playing the game of life, running the gamut – dodging balls, sidestepping boulders, having to learn offensive and defensive strategies. And one thing remains the same.... the injustices of life – the unfair turnabouts will come, question is how will they affect us? Will life's problems, tragedies and injustices rob us of life, joy and love, or will we utilize those seasons and turn them into strength and endurance training?

During his time as a missionary to the Gentiles, Paul submitted to the instructions and drills of God amid great hardship and suffering. Paul was no stranger to suffering. He endured beatings with whips and rocks; he was lost at sea; he was shipwrecked three times and had to learn to survive; he labored and toiled for a days food; he was transient – never putting down roots; he spent time cold, naked and hungry and was falsely imprisoned.

But Paul set the bar for us. Though he endured these unfair, unjust hardships he never allowed any of them to embitter him. Paul endured and thrived. Is it even possible? Yes! And he showed us how....by keeping our eyes fastened upon the person of Jesus Christ!

You may say “Easy for you to say Dori. You dont know my life. You dont know what I've been through and suffered.” You are right. I do not. But I have experienced a training ground of my own.

While I am no Paul I have a resume of my own – suffering the years' long consequences of someone else's choices (talk about unfair!), losing your home, financial devastation, a marriage re-written by my husband's injuries due to a disabling accident 8 years ago; being homeless, selling your belongings to survive, moving 3 states away from your family because that is where God led you to go; finding my mother dead and enduring a loved one's battle with addiction – all these are but a few of the things I've encountered in the last 8 years including the death of my father.

During this last decade my life was so disassembled. Whether I knew it or not at the time - every thing, person, value and belief was tested and or removed in this refiners fire - especially my faith in and knowledge of Christ. The one thought that ocurred over and over was “how do people survive these tragedies, these storms – without God?”

You see Christ was my anchor in these times. I clung to him. With each new storm my voice grew louder and those storms became HIS proving grounds. I witnessed firsthand the power of his ability and miracles. I chose Christ – to cling to Him and to believe in Him, come what may.

Looking back I know that I had every reason and every right to choose differently. For all I witnessed and for all the details I alone know I could have chosen to hate various individuals especially the man who attacked my husband and to be bitter at the disability system for how it ravaged our lives and my husbands body. I could have allowed my heart to be overwhelmed with the desire to get even. I could have easily worn the clothes of a victim of someone else's bad judgement – the victim of “the powers that be”. Churches, pastors, believers in Christ, have let me down sorely. I could be angry at the mortgage companies that would not help us, heartbroken over the one who broke promises, the list goes on.

What would I have gained if I had blindly taken the well earned “right” to be this way? What would it have profited me in life had I chosen to allow the troubles to win? Yet so many do succumb as they blindly demand their rights to suffer on, which only leaves a swath of debris in lives and hearts that are reminscent of paths of destruction left by tornado's and hurricanes. May I say the choice is ours? We can either allow life's troubles to destroy us, or we can turn our tough seasons into training camps.

The apostle Paul often used metaphors of training and competition in his letters to the church. Using his words we can find important training principles:

Galatians 5:7 says “You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?”

Life was good. You were running (living) well. Then trouble happened. Who or what interrupted your life, your stride – to trip you up? No. Go back to what your training (what the word of God tells you to do and apply it.). Guard your heart and your mind against unholy thinking and reaction. Find your stride again.

Hebrews 12:1 says, “let us throw off everything that hinders and every sin that entangles us. And let us run - with perseverance - the race marked out for us.”

In guarding your heart and mind be aware of putting on the coat of “right” --- for it will bleed through your chest to your very heart. Throw off that coat – that “I have a right to feel this way” feeling, for it will only grow in length and weight and hinder your stride, tripping you as you run. Do not agree to become weighed down by things that will hinder your race.

“Do you not know that in a race, all the runners run but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last – but WE do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly. I do not fight like a boxer beating the air; No. I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I will not be disqualified for the prize.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Recognize that life is a training ground. There is a war being waged for your soul. Our enemy, satan, intends to rob you of your faith in Jesus Christ in an attempt to de-robe Christ and de-stroy the truth of God's power and ability. Satan desires to leave you de-feated and hopeless. Decide and determine to deactivate that power. Land the deathblow.

Here are your training instructions as set forth by Paul –

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up your shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all of the Lord's people.” Ephesians 6:10-15

I challenge you to lace up your running shoes. Let's run.

Embrace the Silence

Lately God has been impressing upon me the importance of silence. 

With the advancement of technology, "noise" fills up our lives -- yet Jesus set the example for us to disconnect daily to seek the voice of the father. In Jesus' time "noise" came in the throngs of people pressing upon him, clamoring to get near him. He was always busy speaking, teaching, working. But he set time aside at least ...once daily to seek out solitude and silence. 

We need that time to refocus. We need that solitude to listen to the rumblings of our own hearts and to hear what the voice of God would say in response. 

Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still and know that I am God, exalted above the nations". 

Exodus 14:14 says, "The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be silent." 

Matthew 14:23 says, "After he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came he was still there." 

And yet so many of us run from the silence and fill our lives with more noise. 

Stop. Turn it all off. Go find a mountain and pray. God is faithful to answer. You might be surprised at what he might say.

Precious Father.  Give me the ability to draw myself to a quiet moment and shut out the world.  Help me Lord to sit before you and to listen to my body breathe in and breathe out.  Let all my troubles fall away.  I pray Lord you would be faithful here in the quiet place where just you and I meet together.  Faithfully speak to me O Lord and minister truth and healing to all that is within me.  Lead me.  Guide me.  Love me I pray.... In Jesus name, amen.

Walking in the light

Have you ever been in the house at night and suddenly the lights go out? There you are, standing in the pitch dark, desperate for a light. Or you hear a noise outside and you know you need to go investigate but its pitch black.  To stay safe, you arm yourself with a flashlight. 

Gods word, (the Bible) says in John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth and the light. No one comes to the Father but through me" This was Jesus speaking.

And in psalm 27:1 it says "The Lord is my light". 

 Truly throughout scripture God is referred to as the spirit of truth and truth is often interpreted literally as "light". When you walk in the spirit, you walk "in the light". You are a light that shines in the darkness. So think about that next time you are caught in the darkness without a light ie: truth. 

 it is always good to be prepared....in spirit AND in truth.