This is different than the Lord hiding Himself so we will indeed press into His Presence and His word. Instead this is entering a traffic circle of activity to pursue Him and never coming to the exit: never coming to a place of resting or leaning on Him. It is a place where our confidence in ourselves and our actions reasserts itself over our faith in Him or His word. We trust in what we feel or experience instead of what is conveyed in the word about Him or His ways or character.
Second Timothy describes this situation as follows:
“… they are forever inquiring and getting information, but are never able to arrive at a recognition and knowledge of the Truth.” 2Tim3:7
We become like hamsters on an exercise wheel, a treat extended before us (of gaining a greater sense of His Presence), but we never recognize we have received it…but why is that? Because the basis for recognizing we have received something has moved from the realm of faith to something more tangible and temporal. It becomes something of the flesh that is under our control. It is an emotional zeal which leads us to deception. It becomes works.
The danger here is that the believer has actually moved from faith in God, to faith in themselves and their activity. It actually wars against the truth of God and muddies our perception of the spiritual realm!
Our focus should be to believe, rest, lean, and peace…
Here are just a few Scriptures to recalibrate and focus our faith that we can employ to be able to rest and lean on God.
Colossians 2:5
“For though I am away from you in body, yet I am with you in spirit, delighted at the sight of your [standing shoulder to shoulder in such] orderly array and the firmness and the solid front and steadfastness of your faith in Christ [that leaning of the entire human personality on Him in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness].”
Galatians 3:3
“Are you so foolish and so senseless and so silly? Having begun [your new life spiritually] with the [Holy] Spirit, are you now reaching perfection [by dependence] on the flesh?
Phil 2:13
“[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.”
Phil 4:7
“And God’s peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
Isaiah 26:3
“You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because He commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.”
Two parting thoughts:
A favorite theologian, Oswald Chambers, once remarked that “when a person fails in his Christian life, it is usually because he has never received anything.”
It is so easy to get sped up in our Christian walk and forget our posture is one of continually receiving the redemptive life of Christ through the Holy Spirit. It is staying humble, and hungry, but realizing there is a flow and pattern to this Christian life. Like the river Jordan it is first flows into us, and then flows out as a witness and ministry. This is not a passive reception but an active engagement by faith with thanksgiving!!!
The second thought arose as I was meditating on Psalm 139:7-10…
“Where could I go from Your Spirit? Or where could I flee from Your Presence? If I ascend up into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol (the place of the dead), behold You are there. If I take the wings of the morning or dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.”
Do you truly understand you cannot get away from God? Yet we become convinced He has left us. We are so enamored with our actions to pursue God… but wait, instead begin to claim Him as the God of your heart. Worship Him, draw near by faith, realizing you deserve nothing, but He has already made the way for you to enter in to His presence.
If you were an airplane… He has laid the runway, created the heading, structured your frame and set your flaps. He is the light before you on the runway, and He provides the loft and lift under your wings….
Simply come before Him and believe…
“Light is sown for the righteous and strewn along their pathway, and joy for the upright in heart [the irrepressible joy which comes from consciousness of His favor and protection].” Ps 97:11
Most importantly here, am I telling you to not pursue God…?
Not exactly, I am saying you will find Him when you believe, lean, and trust that He is there… near you, within you, and hopefully upon you. You don’t need to make it happen. He already has!
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