Skip to main content

The Nasty Old So-and-So

             Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. (Isaiah 55:6)

 

This is one of the ideas that is difficult for me. God is omnipresent. He is everywhere, all the time. This means that He can’t be far. Yes, I know. Sometimes it feels as if He’s on the other side of the universe, with His back turned, with headphones on and playing loud music. The “dark night of the soul” exists. I’d think that’s a case of perception vs reality were it not for verses like todays. And maybe it’s still perception vs reality.

Some folks say things like, “If God feels far away, it’s not God who moved.” But I’m not sure that movement away from God is the problem either. At least not exactly. It’s not that God’s at location A and you’ve gone off to location Z, even if it feels like it. And in Exodus, it’s said sometimes that God hardened Pharoah’s heart, sometimes that the Pharoah hardened his heart. This seems to indicate that there are times when God does something to create “distance” and times when we do.

As I’ve considered this through the day, one of the ideas that came to mind is that near and far are sometimes misleading. I could be standing one foot away from you, but to get to you, I might have to walk to the other end of the building where there’s a door, then walk back along the outside of the building to get where you are. So, were you one foot away, or maybe fifty or a hundred feet away? And suppose that God put some things between you and Himself, and you put some things between Him and yourself. Neither of you may have moved, but all of the things create a lot of distance because each must be handled in some way. Instead of just going to the other end of the building, you may have to navigate a large maze, so to speak.

So, seeking God while He may be found and calling Him while He is near may have more to do with what we put between ourselves and God. It’s always easier to call on someone with whom one has a good relationship. When you’ve distanced yourself relationally from that nasty old so-and-so down the street, it’s hard to call on him, and he may not answer because we’re the nasty old so-and-so up the street. But we have no problem seeking  or calling on the good friend down the street.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more