Losing Sight of God

Everyday life includes computers that stop working , cars that don't start, and traffic that doesn't flow. These are just life's normal headaches.  The real tests are those things for which we have no explanations - chronic illness or pain, people who turn against us for reasons we cannot understand, death of friend or family, etc.  How do we reconcile our revelation of an all-powerful, all-knowing, and loving Father God with our experience of pain and loss?  

How does one rejoice when those on whom he leans let him fall?  

How can do we continue to live with joy when temptation rages inside of our head and heart?

How does faith continue to guide our choices when doubt settles over us like a thick fog? 

I'm still working that out!   I imagine, in one way or another, you are, too.   

James says,  "Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides." (James 1:2, The Message)   I want to embrace that command, but it is hard to do.   Who likes those moments when questions are many and answers few?   

The story of Abraham's journey to Mt. Moriah reaches out to people who wonder 'what are you doing, Lord?'   In Genesis 22 we read that God told Abraham to take his beloved son, Isaac, and to sacrifice him.  That journey had to be the longest walk in his life! 

He had to go through the same kinds of emotions we feel when our way and God's will do not run parallel.

• Testing can cause us to feel CONFUSION.  

Don't you think Abraham was more than a little confused by a God who gives him a miracle son and then asks for him back a few years later?    

• Testing can cause us to feel DOUBT.  

"God is that really your Voice?  Why would You ask such a terrible thing?"   I've wondered that more than once in my life when tested.

• Testing can cause us to feel ALONE.  

That trip across the plains to the hills had to be the most lonely days of Abraham's life.  He even left his servant and traveled on with just Isaac. How do you tell jokes and enjoy the company of a boy you're going to sacrifice tomorrow?   My reflection on my past reveals that God has often ministered to the deepest place in my life when I was most alone.

• Testing can cause us to feel THAT GOD IS UNWILLING OR UNABLE TO ANSWER OUR PRAYERS.  

When we have loved Him intimately and deeply, it is hard to keep faith when suddenly, He stops speaking for a time.  We may cry out as His Son did, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"   Of course, He hasn't, but it can sure feel like it.

• Testing can cause us to feel HOPELESS.  

In your imagination, go and stand with Abraham on the top of that little hill called Moriah.  Drag the rocks, one by one, into a heap to form an altar each one becoming heavier as you realize the moment of decision is imminent.  Raise the knife!    The contents of your stomach rise in your throat.  A sorrow beyond description wrenches sobs so violent from your body that you feel like you could die.   Where are you, God?

There we find the stuff of character and the meaning of faith! The real questions are:  Will you stay steady when the wind blows strong?  
Will you obey when your natural self screams to take another way?
Hard questions, aren't they?  

His promise is not based on our performance, but on His eternal will. He says "If we die with him, we will also live with him. If we endure hardship, we will reign with him. If we deny him, he will deny us. If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself." (2 Timothy 2:11-13, NLT)   Abraham had known the faithfulness of God through times when he failed.   

So, he trusted - not in his own righteousness, his own ability to please God - but in the faithfulness of God to keep him.   And, at just the critical moment, God revealed Himself as "Yahweh Yireh, the Lord, my Provider."     Remember the story?   Just as Abraham was about to take his son's life, he looked up and saw a ram caught in the bushes, a substitute sacrifice provided by God, Himself!

Paul repeats this phrase again and again in his letters to Believers - "Stand firm!"    Here's the word from the Word. May the Spirit make them bread for your soul, strength for your heart.   "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong."
(1 Corinthians 16:13, NIV)

"He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on everything we taught you both in person and by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father, who loved us and in his special favor gave us everlasting comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and give you strength in every good thing you do and say."
(2 Thessalonians 2:14-17, NLT)

_______________

My faith has found a resting place,

Not in device nor creed.

I trust the ever-living One

His wounds for me will plead.

I need no other argument,

I need no other plea.

It is enough that Jesus died,

And that He died for me.

Enough for me that Jesus saves,

This ends my fear and doubt;

A sinful soul I come to Him,

He'll never cast me out.   

-          Lidie Edmunds, Public domain