There have been times in my life that I have had a hard time following God. In fact, there have been times when I did not like what He was asking of me and I simply wanted to quit.There have also been seasons of discontent that only ended when I realized that my true source of joy and satisfaction comes from being in the presence of God and enjoying who He is, not only what He does.
We all are challenged in many different ways and these challenges make it difficult to follow God. These challenges come from who we are as humans and the fact that we live in a culture that, for the most part, has rejected God.I think that it is also hard to obey God because we believe the lie that moving away from God will produce satisfaction. I know that this sounds weird to the ears of a Christian. It sounds like something a Christian would never think or dare to attempt. However if we are honest with ourselves this silly idea is very much what many choose to believe.
This weird little lie states that I can disobey God and He will find someone else to do His work. The dangerous part of this is that it is somewhat true, yet there are somethings that God will only use you to do. For example, only you can be the father or mother to your child. This lie also tempts us to believe that we can escape His inspiring influence. The truth here is that when God calls you He will not give up so easily. Finally and perhaps the most stunning, this lie tells us that
we can flee the “face” of God without considering the real result. Consider the meaning of “the face of”. It means the following, with the corresponding Scripture passages:
- Acceptance - Gen. 32:20
- Devotion - Psalm 27:8
- It is symbolic of the exposure of one’s nature and character.
(Jewish Literature)
So the challenge for us becomes to believe the truth about being away from the face of God. Being away from the face of God means...
- Being away from His communication. Deut. 31:16-18
- That God will ignore your request for help. Psalm 13:1-2
- It is compared to a death…..Psalm 143:7
With all this in mind my prayer for all of us is that the presence of God becomes the most precious part of our lives. Psalm 17:15 states, "As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness"(ESV).
May you be blessed,
Pastor Paul
