"God where are You"
For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:11-13)
Ok, I need to hear from God now!! Let's see, How do I do that? Oh yeah, a daily quiet time. I know what that is. That is the time that God speaks to me while I read His Word and pray, usually first thing in the morning or late at night. And if I want an extended time with the Lord, I can either take an evening ponderously praying and doing serious Bible reading, or I can just block off a weekend for a spiritual retreat so that I can hear Him. Maybe I should throw in a 40-day fast? Spiritual activities are what we often refer to in Christiandom as being discipline. It's a good thing to practice the lifestyle of being godly and schedulely purposeful times with the Lord.
But what if God wants to talk to you right "NOW! Right where you are in the middle of your messy, mortal state of mind, when you don't have a Bible in hand and you aren't in fervent prayer? Is that acceptable to you? Are you going to recognize Him in the everyday events of your life? We always think we have to put forth great effort to get God to speak to us, when in actuality He speaks many times when we believe we are doing the unspiritual, the ordinary, the menial. Why? Is God trying to tell us that He is more down-to-earth than we think. We want to box Him in and put Him on some pedestal and yell, "Speak, O Wise One! and decide where and when and how He greets us.
But God might choose to interrupt your perfectly penciled in day with a prompting to go pray for someone or perform an act of kindness when you least expect it? Several years ago when the Raiders played the Vikings, when Randy Moss was a Minnesota Viking. God brought forth His will on that day; as the Silver and Black marched down the field, the Lord started tugging at my heart to pray for a young man in the handicap area. talk about interrupting your day! The Raiders call a time-out in the "Red-Zone" I ran up to this kid and introduced myself, and asked his family do you know "JESUS! there response "Yes! Security tells me, go back to your seat, the crowd is making noise the Raiders come out of their time-out, I ran back up to this family, and said to them I need to pray for your child! We huddled up around him and prayed "Wow! As the Raiders ran the ball in for a touchdown, the Holy Spirit overwhelmed the entire family they fall to the pavement in such a "majestic manner" The tears of joy that followed, the crowd is going crazy. "Touchdown Raiders!
In many situation we find ourselves struggling is this you God, and then we get upset when He doesn't do miracles. Well, God might have wanted to do a miracle in your life at 8:30 p.m., but you had thought He could only show up between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. during your group Bible study. God is everywhere we should never forget that, it includes the "Black Hole in OakTown" Sounds shocking! But if you let Him, God can and will show up with a spiritual revelation while you are cheering for the Sivler and Black or at home changing dirty and I mean dirty diapers!
The reason is God wants to be a part of your entire life, not just an hour here and there. He wants to be able to be so intimately familiar with you that He can show up anytime and anywhere unannounced and you aren't going to freak-out or put up a fuss or throw some pharisaical rules at Him. Like a best friend, God wants to count on you to invite Him in all your activities when He calls on you, to hear Him out, to offer Him a chair and something nice to drink as He explains what He wants to tell you. Why doesn't God wait for us to act all holy and sweet before He lands a big one on us? Because if He did, it would seem like we conjured Him up. It would seem like our appearances of holiness really worked. But God doesn't get into appearances much. God isn't really that concerned with propriety or manmade rules or religious overtones. He cares about truth and our character. And character happens right where we are living it, friends. Character is what happens in the moment-either we yell and scream and pout and stomp our feet, or we willingly hand over the reigns of our lives.
As much as we would love to be able to ring a bell and call God like some heavenly vending machine, God is not at our beck and call; we are to be at His beck and call. We aren't the ones calling the shots, He is. God speaks when He speaks and exactly where He speaks for a reason. If we aren't ready for the details, He might stay silent. But since we are meant to do His will, we need to pay attention to God when He drops in and not shoo Him away like some figment of our imagination or irritating distraction. After all, there are cases when God might just speak but once. And it might be incredibly important. If He happens to speak into your ear right in the middle of your busy day, are you going to hear Him? If you expect Him to enter your world at a moment's notice, then you will attune your ears to pick up God's signal. Perhaps you need a touch from God where you are. Then take time to remember God in your natural world. Don't be surprised if God wants to do something extraordinary in your ordinary day. Allow Him to make the natural supernatural...Thank You, Jesus!
Pastor Mando
"Just Keeping It Real!
