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You hem me in behind and before, and
you lay your hand upon me.
Psalm 139:5
My BSGs were talking the other day about sensing God’s presence. More specifically about the times we felt God was far away from us. So often when we are experiencing difficult trials we think “where is God?” But I’ve come to realize in my faith journey that the real question is the one God asks, “Will you come back to me and rest in my love?”
God surrounds us each and every day. In our verse today it’s expressed as “hemming us in.” For some that might seem restricting. But to me it evokes the concept of wrapping a baby tightly in a swaddling cloth. We do it so the baby feels the warmth and safety once felt while inside the womb. And that’s what God wants for us.
I will not leave you comfortless: I will
come to you.
John 14:18
Those are Jesus’ words. He sent us the Holy Spirit to always be in us. We don’t need to go looking for it. We don’t need to beg for it to descend upon us. God indwells. So, what is truly required of us when we experience difficult times is to rest in what is already available to us.
“It may look like I’m surrounded but I’m surrounded by you!”
Upper Room, Surrounded (Fight My Battles)
When I think about the times I felt distanced from God I also think back to when the Israelites were out in the desert. They could actually see God’s spirit hovering over their camp day and night. And yet, they asked, “Where is God?” I don’t have the benefit of seeing a cloud follow me around day and night. And, I don’t have the physical Jesus to sit down with at dinner to share my problems. So, I give myself a bit of grace when I forget He is always with me.
When I rest and tap into the strength and love and goodness of the Holy Spirit I find that promised peace. It most likely won’t change the circumstances of the trial I’m experiencing. But knowing He is with me, with His hand laid upon me, gives me the strength to continue.
My friend Betsy is an avid, extreme hiker. Last year, at 70 years old, she set off to tackle the John Muir Trail solo. She came to a particularly difficult portion and her body starting giving her troubles. She has dreamed of this trip for years – and attempted it a few times. She became distraught that she couldn’t go on. With her, in case of emergency, was her Iphone. She made the decision to use it to listen to some Christian music in the midst of this struggle. As she reached the crest of the difficult portion, filled with the music of the Holy Spirit, her mind was transformed. She had plugged back in to her closeness with God.
Betsy wasn’t able to complete her goal. But she gained so much more. A confirmation that God never leaves us. We just need to rest in that “hemmed in” space He provides.
Here’s a prayer from Sparkling Gems from the Greek to pray when we feel separated from God:
Lord, I thank you that I am not a spiritual orphan in this world. You did not abandon me or leave me to figure out everything on my own. You sent the Holy Spirit to me to be my Teacher and Guide. So right now, I open my heart wide to the Holy Spirit, so He can be the Helper You sent Him to be in my life. I give You thanks for sending this divine Helper and I ask You to teach me how to lean upon Him more and more in the course of my life. I pray this in Jesus’ name!
The Lord will fight for you; you
need only to be still.
Exodus 14:14
I am not a “still” person. If something feels lacking in me, I do a personal inventory and then come up with a plan to fix it. But I finally realized that my relationship with God needed to be approached differently. I sat on the edge of my bed one day years ago and cried out to God like the unbelieving Israelites: “Where are you? I’ve done a lot of stuff to make you happy but you just aren’t here for me!”
Me, me, me, me. What “I have done for God.” The Israelites were constantly complaining to Moses about having sacrificed leaving their homes in Egypt only to find themselves without food or water. They romanticized their old lives – one which they were prisoners to pharaoh. And in the verse today they found themselves at the edge of the sea with no obvious way to cross. From behind, pharaoh’s men were approaching to kill them all. And the complaining began.
Moses reminds us to be still. To stop fretting and complaining about our situation. To stop whirling our minds around worldly solutions. To stop grasping at fixing things ourselves and working so hard on our sanctification path. Be still.
That day I complained so loudly to the Lord and He spoke even louder back to me. “What have you really done?” He asked me. In my frenzied, “doer” world I thought that I needed to take the bull by the horns and join more Bible studies, volunteer more at church, wear my cross around my neck more often. But what He was telling me was to stop and pray. To stop and just believe. To stop and listen to Him.
The Lord will fight for you and me. We need to stop and listen to what He actually wants us to do. For the Israelites it was to pray and then, in faith, step into the water. For me it was to set aside my “to do” list and dive deep into His Word every day.
The Lord has fought for me. And when I listen, He tells me when to break camp and when to settle in. Make stillness a priority today. Let the world’s problems swirl around the outside while you sit with Him. He’s got this.
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we
profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Hebrews 10:23
We sing songs about God being our Rock. We hear sermons about not living as though on shifting sand. And yet so often I find myself having days where my faith feels more like something I’ve placed in a box to access at a later date and time. I rush about “doing life,” not as a Christian but as a citizen of the world. I let go of my Rock and hold on to my to do list.
But what do we, as Christians, really want to accomplish in our lives? If it’s simply completing to-do lists every day, we miss out on some of the greatest human qualities God gifted us – the ability to dream and grow and have hope.
When I was in high school, I wanted to be an astronaut. I met with Air Force recruiters who were enthusiastic about me joining up. But when I sat down with my parents, they immediately discouraged me. They thought I couldn’t handle the rigor and discipline of training. I had two choices – to ignore them and join anyway or give up my dream. Had I a strong prayer life, I could’ve lifted up this quandary to God. And then be guided by Him. At each roadblock I could’ve held fast to the knowledge that He put me on that path. But I’m sorry to say, I neither prayed nor kept my dream alive.
This verse today harkens back to Abraham and Sarah’s unswerving faith in God. They went through terrible trials in which it would’ve been understandable had they given up on God’s promises. We see throughout the Old Testament when the Israelites did give up hope. They grumbled to Moses and set off in directions which brought death. And who can forget Lot’s wife – looking backward rather than forward to God’ promise?
How often do we pray for help from Jesus, knowing that He answers prayers, and then after things get a bit tough or we feel the wait is too long we give up on our hopes and dreams?
Blessed is the one who perseveres under
trial because, having stood the test,
that person will receive the crown of
life that the Lord has promised to those
who love him.
James 1:12
God never breaks a promise. It’s always us. It’s us that needs to take our faith out of the box and place it at the top of our list each day. We need to hold fast to the knowledge that God is working for us and not against us. Whenever we are tempted to give up or get discouraged about our dreams, we need seize the promises that God has shown us.
Here’s a prayer from Sparkling Gems from the Greek that might help you, through faith, “hold unswervingly” to your dreams!
Lord, I am well aware that events will occur in life that will tempt me to release the dream You put in my heart. So right now, I ask You to fill me with the courage I need to refuse to let go of my dream. Even though my mind and the circumstances around me may send signals that the dream will never come to pass, I know that You are faithful to what you have promised. Help me wrap my arms of faith around your promises and never let go until I see them come into manifestation! I pray this in Jesus’ name!
Then you will shine among them like
stars in the sky as you hold firmly
to the Word of life.
Philippians 2:15-16
I have to admit in the carrot and stick scenario of motivation I tend to be more of a “stick” motivated person. My fear of punishment or failure outweighs any reward I might be offered. It’s probably why my favorite book in the Bible is James. He’s upfront, to the point, and sounds a bit chastising at times. So, when I read about the glorious promises of faithfulness to God, I can sometimes gloss over them.
But when I read this section in Philippians – where Paul is urging the church to obey God’s word – I was struck with the visual he presents as our reward. “To shine like stars.” He reminds us to pray, be obedient and faithful without grumbling or arguing (a bit of chastising). He also reminds us that as Christians, we are to be constantly viewing ourselves as being “set apart.”
Do everything without grumbling or
arguing, so that you may become blameless
and pure, children of God without fault
in a warped and crooked generation.
Philippians 2:14-15
And the reward for being set apart through this constant reminder that we are firmly attached to Jesus’ main vine? To be like those beautiful, twinkling stars in the night sky.
My husband and I walk our dog each night after dinner. We are just far away enough from the city to have a decent darkened sky. Each night we stop in one place briefly and look at the stars. From our location we can easily find the Big Dipper and Orion’s Belt. I’ve always had a fascination with the stars – wondering what is beyond our tiny blue planet. When we are in a season to see other planets, we bring out our phone’s star apps and marvel at the world beyond.
Although in reality there are billions upon billions of stars in the sky, we can only see a few of the brightest ones. They wink at us saying “hello old friend!” And when I look up and see the ones familiar to me, it brings me comfort that they are the same today as they were when I was a child. They steadily burn bright.
That’s what the apostle Paul wants for us. To be those shining, steady beacons. Comforting many who see us as ones set apart for the glory of the heavens. This is surely the carrot in our motivation story. But it is the chastising spirit of the stick – obeying God, immersing ourselves in His Word, praying regularly – that will help us burn brightly.
That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Hebrews 6:12
I don’t typically pull Bible verses from the King James version. But in one of my devotionals this version of Hebrews 6:12 was the focus of that day’s study. It got me thinking about my own faith and where I stand with “slothfulness.”
When you hear that word “sloth” you probably think of the lazy animal, hanging out in a tree accomplishing next to nothing all day. Yet slothfulness is not the same as being lazy – which is how the word is translated in the New International Version. In fact, the word “slothful” in Greek is quite different. And in the context of the verse in Hebrews it means to not allow our faith to become monotonous or without a blazing flame.
Slothful: nōthrós – slow, sluggish; monotonous
Strong’s Greek
For many Christians we say we are religious because we attend church regularly. We get up Sunday morning, find our usual spot to park at church, listen to a sermon, sing a few familiar songs, and look forward to the donut or muffin on the way out. We might chat with a few friends then head to whatever else we have on our plate for the day. We can check off our “faith” for that week. We might even go to a Bible study during the week to put another tick mark on our “faithful” list.
And for you overachieving, super involved Christians, it’s interesting to note that the author of my devotional is an accomplished author, missionary and evangelist. He realized he was a good “worker” for God. But somewhere along the line it became just that – work.
But what God wants of us is deep, passionate faith. And if you already have that – awesome! I hope you will still enjoy what is to come in my Fresh Fire posts!
He wants us to be in love with Him. He wants us to be eager to speak with Him and to be sad if we don’t feel His presence. He wants us to stand for Him in the face of those who would speak against Him. He wants us to seek the opportunities to speak about His glorious promises. He wants us to remove all spiritual neutrality and instead burn red-hot for His message of love, forgiveness, redemption and salvation!
My son-in-law once shared with me Charles Spurgeon’s compilation of prayers called, “Spurgeon on Prayer and Spiritual Warfare.” I soon got my own copy and was amazed with the fervor level of his sermons. There’s nothing slothful about Mr. Spurgeon! I wanted to share this excerpt about praying with a blazing heart:
“I would that some of you prayed more vehemently! “The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” (Matt 11:12) An old Puritan said, “Prayer is a cannon set at the gate of heaven to burst open its gates.” You must take the city by storm if you would have it. You will not ride to heaven on a feather-bed, you must go on pilgrimage; there is no going to the land of glory while you are sound asleep, dreamy sluggards will have to wake up in hell. If God has made you to feel in your soul the need of salvation, cry like one who is awake and alive; be in earnest; cry aloud; spare not.
Charles Spurgeon, The Raven’s Cry
Whew! I get exhausted each time I read that! And yet, during the “Great Covid Pandemic” I watched friends’ faith fall by the wayside. They were comfortable with sitting in their PJs watching a church video and nothing more. I also watched others be lifted to higher heights. Their Bible study life became daily and hour-long. Their prayers became constant and vibrant! Their work of sanctification grew by leaps and bounds! I have written before that I believe a great sifting has occurred. Those who choose to be “slothful” in their faith will continue to slide out of a relationship with Jesus. But we don’t want to be lost into the world.
For five weeks, I’ll share 25 verses about strong, energetic, and passionate faith. A few may feel familiar but my hope is that most will be something new. Because that’s what this series is about – stripping away the “usual” and monotonous and injecting a bit of new fire.
God’s promises are so much more beautiful and glorious than anything the world can ever offer. It’s up to us to grab hold of our faith with renewed vigor and fire. It’s up to us to burn in passion for our Lord.
Here’s the prayer from that day’s devotional about slothfulness. I hope you pray it as a stepping off point for the study!
“Lord, help me understand how totally unacceptable it is for me to lose my passion, momentum and desire. I ask you to forgive me for allowing any hint of slothfulness to operate in my life. Today I repent and deliberately turn from slothfulness. Holy Spirit, I turn to you now and ask you to stir and reignite the fire in my heart. Please help me regain the zeal, the thrust and the fire I once possessed. Help me to keep that fire burning this time, never to lose it again. I pray this is Jesus’ name!”
March 29 through April 30
emboldened.net 