Ever With Us!

Sunday September 19, 2010

Today's Passage: Psalms 10:1
Memory Verse: Psalms 22:2

As I sat down to write today's devotional, I (like always) began to ask God what he wanted me to say.  After sitting for what seemed like an hour, nothing came to my spirit.  Yas and I are sensitive about what we post, so hearing from the Lord is a priority for coming up with a devotional that makes Him famous.  However, it seems God was silent.  It felt like He was the one waiting, not me.  I began to pray; begging Him for His presence as though He were miles away from me.  Just then, the Holy Spirit revealed God was speaking.  He's speaking even in silence. 

There are several accounts in the Bible when the people of God felt like God had "left them".  Psalms 10:1 says "God, are You avoiding me?  Where are You when I need You?"  Psalms 22:2 says "Doubled up with pain, I called to God all the day long.  No answer. Nothing".  On the contrary, God never leaves us.  He told Joshua "All your life, no one will be able to hold out against you.  In the same way I was with Moses, I'll be with you.  I won't give up on you.  I won't leave you".  You see, God is a relationship God.  Which means He wants you to love and desire Him just as He desires you.  He wants to be followed and pursued.  This relationship is true love, and true love has to be cultivated and nourished.  He wants our passion for Him to be strong.  He wants our desire to be focused and driven.  You ever wonder why sometimes in praise and worship it seems God's presence comes at the very beginning, and other times we have to press for it?  It's because our minds are usually on other things when they should be on Him.  In Matthew 8:22, the man wanted to delay following Jesus because he had "business to attend to".  He wanted to go funerlize his brother.  Jesus tells him "First things first.  Your business is life, not death.  Follow me. Pursue life."  See?  Sometimes God wants to know if we're serious about Him.  Ask yourself: "How do I praise God when I don't know what's happening in my life and it seems He's silent?  I'll tell you how.  You stand in faith and praise Him for who He is, not for where you are.  You believe like the 3 Hebrew boys that God has the power to deliver you, and He'll do it when and if He's good and ready.  You rest in the fact that your purpose is greater than your pressure, and your aggravation is only a doorway to your elevation.  In other words, you pursue and press until something breaks.

God will never leave or forsake you my friend.  So I challenge you to walk by faith.  Know that He may be using a time of silence to deepen your pursuit of Him.  He's not okay with being your second or third thought.  When you go to church today, call your thoughts into captivity.  Concentrate on the Lord and pursue Him.  He's not silent because He doesn't want you, He just wants to know you really want Him.  

Prayer:  Father I'm nothing without You.  Being seperated from You will never be an option for me.  Let me rest in you and I'll never leave.  Hear my praise today.  Let me be one with You...Amen!