Pushing God out of the picture

After church worship yesterday a woman thanked me for the reminder that there is more to life than what is right in front of our eyes. Holding her hands just a couple of inches from her face she spoke of the many pressures and responsibilities that kept her from seeing the whole of life, of being aware of the larger purposes of the Lord God.  She is not unique, is she?    

We all can become so wrapped up in ‘living’ that God gets pushed, unintentionally, out of the picture.  We intend to prioritize the right things, to make time for prayer, to ‘keep step with the Spirit’ but the myriad voices of work, culture, and family can become so loud that their cadence call keeps us from walking with God – unless we continually refocus, reflect, and renew our commitment to Him.

Remaining God-aware is critically important in the disciple’s daily life!  How true those words of an old hymn – “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;  here’s my heart; O take and seal it; seal it for thy courts above.”  (Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing)  When we lose sight of God, if we fail to acknowledge His Presence each day – we will wander, becoming irreverent, sidelining the sacred – and in the process losing the security and purpose that comes from when we are close to our Father.

How wonderfully assuring it is, what a steadying blessing to sense, as He desires, that He cares, He loves, He leads. Moses urged the Israelites to cultivate their God-awareness. He said, "Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other." (Deuteronomy 4:39, NIV)

When Hagar, the maidservant of Abraham’s wife, Sarah, was badly mistreated and sent away with her child, in the wilderness He met her and she gave Him a new name: El Roi – “The God who sees me!” The text reads this way - "An angel of God found her beside a spring in the desert; it was the spring on the road to Shur. …She answered God by name, praying to the God who spoke to her, “You’re the God who sees me! “Yes! He saw me; and then I saw him!” " (Genesis 16:7, 13, The Message) 

My friend, He sees you.  Another way to say it is that He gets you, understanding you better than you know yourself. And, He has prepared a way for you through this day.

It is my habit to offer up thanks and praise to the Lord each morning.  “Lord, make me a blessing to others today. Help my words to encourage, my life to be honoring to You.”  It only takes a few seconds, but it is a habit that helps me to be God-aware.  As I make my way through the day, I pause to look up (emotionally and mentally, more than physically) to thank Him, to ‘see’ Him in my circumstances.  I need to remember, always, that He is the “God who sees me!” This is not for God’s benefit, but for mine! When I encounter difficult situations, I may complain at first, but generally my next response is to consciously ask His wisdom, to intentionally commit my way to Him, or, as necessary, to seek His forgiveness for my lapses in Self-will and sin.

Disciple, be intentionally God-aware. It is true that when we are children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus, that the Holy Spirit lives in us, but He does so sometimes without our conscious knowledge. When this happens we tend to lose the nobility of holiness that comes from knowing we are children of God, that our Father is with us. Ask any child who has a great relationship with his parent what having a constant sense of parental care provides for life!
Parental love means safety and security.
Parental affirmation brings encouragement and hope.
Parental discipline and guidance provides secure boundaries!

We know that is true for children. Be reminded, it is true for children of the Heavenly Father, too.

Here is a word from the Word. May it be the prayer of the God-aware today.

"O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways." (Psalm 139:1-3, NIV)

"Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." (Psalm 139:7-10, NIV)

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(Video of this blog at this link)

Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing

 

Come Thou fount of ev'ry blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount I'm fixed upon it
Mount of Thy redeeming love

 

Here I raise mine Ebenezer  (a memorial to God)
Hither by Thy help I'm come
And I hope by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wand'ring from the fold of God
He to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood

 

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be
Let Thy grace Lord like a fetter
Bind my wand'ring heart to Thee\
Prone to wander Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart Lord take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above

 

John Wyeth, Robert Robinson

© Words: Public Domain; Music: Public Domain