SATURDAY DECEMBER 14, 2019.
INTIMATION:
SUBJECT : WHEN GOD SEEMS FAR AWAY!
Memory verse: "If He goes by me, I do not see Him; if He moves past, I do not perceive Him.” (Job 9 vs 11.)
READ: Job 23 vs 8 - 12:
23:8: Look, I go forward, but He is not there. And backward, but I cannot perceive Him; 23:9: When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him; When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him.
23:10: But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.
23:11: My foot has held fast to His steps; I have I kept His way and not turned aside.
23:12: I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
23:12: I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
There are times when God seems far away, and you eventually feels abandoned. You may have been working in righteousness, and obedience to God, but still nothing seems to work for you. Worst still, you may look around you and see the wicked and unrighteous prospering. People may even be asking you, “Where is your God.” When God seems distant, you may feel that He is angry with you or is disciplining you for some sin. In fact, sin does disconnect us from intimate fellowship with God. We grieve His Spirit and quench our fellowship with Him by disobedience, conflict with others, busyness, friendship with the world, and other sins. But often this feeling of abandonment or estrangement from God has nothing to do with sin. It is a test of faith, and is obvious we all must face this test. In such situations, will you continue to love, trust, obey, and worship God, even when you have no sense of his presence or visible evidence of His work in your life? That is just the right thing to do!
The most common mistake christians make in worship today is seeking an experience rather than seeking God. They look for a feeling, and if it happens, they conclude that they have worshiped. This is very wrong! In fact, God often removes our feelings so we won't depend on them. Seeking a feeling, even the feeling of closeness to Christ, is not worship. When you are baby Christian, God gives you a lot of confirming emotions and often answers the most immature, self-centered prayers, so you'll know He exists. But as you grow in faith, He will wean you of these dependencies.
God's omnipresence and the manifestation of His presence are two different things. One is a fact, the other is often a feeling. God is always present, even when you unaware of Him, and His presence is too profound to be measured by mere emotion.
Of course, God wants you to sense His presence, but He's more concerned that you trust Him than that you feel Him. Faith, not feelings, pleases God.
The situations that will stretch your faith most will be those times when life falls apart and God is nowhere to be found. This happened to Job. On a single day he lost everything—his family, his business, his health, and everything he owned. Most discouraging, for thirty-seven chapters in the Book of Job God said nothing! The realization of the fact that God, at some points in our lives, tests us with His deliberate silence to observe our commitment and trust in Him, gave Job hope when he could not feel God's presence in his life. He said, "Look, I go forward, but He is not there. And backward, but I cannot perceive Him; When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him; When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him. But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold." (Job 23 vs 8 - 10.) What a great and awesome faith!
Job declared his confidence in his integrity and God's justice. We are always likely to have hidden sin in our lives, sin we don't even know about because God's standards are so high and our performance is so imperfect. The Scripture states in Isaiah 64 vs 6, "But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags." If we are true believers, however, all our sins are forgiven because of what Christ did on the cross in our behalf.
How do you praise God when you don't understand what's happening in your life and God is silent? How do you stay connected in a crisis without communication? How do you keep your eyes on Jesus when they're full of tears? You do what Job did: "Then Job arose,......and fell to the ground and worshiped. And He said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong." (Job 1 vs 20 - 22.)
Job didn't hide his overwhelming grief. He had not lost his faith in God; instead, his emotions showed that he was human and that he loved his family. God created our emotions, and it is not sinful or inappropriate to express them as Job did. Even the Lord Jesus expressed His when He wept (John 11 vs 35). If you have experienced a deep loss, a disappointment, or a heartbreak, admit your feelings to yourself and others, and grieve. Job had lost his possessions and family, but he reacted rightly toward God by acknowledging God's sovereign authority over everything God had given him. Job proved that people can love God for who He is, not for what He gives.
Prayer: Abba Father, forever Yours I am and Yours I want to be. Do to me and with as it is pleasing to You, in Jesus’ Name I prayed. Amen.
PRAISE THE LORD!
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