Seeing God when you can't see God

As I share the Lord, people often say to me that it’s hard to believe in a God that lets so many bad things happen. My answer to this is biblical and it is that if you live your life separated from life‘s handbook which is the Bible you will not see God in everything. He’s not some big God up in the sky and you’re some little peon down here on earth. He is a triune God which is made up of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. By his nature he is a God that is relational. He created human beings so that he could have a relationship with us. Each and everyone of us. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden and did the one thing that God asked them not to do (Genesis 3), that changed the beautiful plan that God had for his creation. He used to walk in the garden and spend time with Adam and Eve, but, after they rebelled against his will a new plan was put into place. It was a new story that had to be told of a lost people who needed a Savior. We are made up of body, mind, emotions and spirit, not to mention family, community, local, state, national and world affairs… so to think that you can run the show of life on your own and save yourself and the world is a delusion. There is a God, he created us, and to be with him forever we cannot earn it on our own merits. God does not let sin into heaven and he cannot be in the presence of it. The sweet story is, that if we ask Christ into our heart as our savior and ask him to be the Lord of our life we can then stand before our Father in heaven when we die! He will not see our sin but he will see us through the filter and the blood of Jesus Christ his son (John 3:16). It’s a very simple story with a rough road getting to the end but he promises never to leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:8).

The one thing you’ll notice in life is if you look at the big story you will not see God. However, if you look into the personal lives of the people going through trials and tribulations, you will hear stories that are so magnificent and miraculous because that’s where God works. Yes, the world is a mess and It’s because of greed, pride, unforgiveness … Which are sins! Our sins! God sent his son because we cannot save ourselves. Christ died at Calvary for you. Christ took the beatings, the slaps in the face, the spitting and cursing and ultimately the horrible death on the cross for you. He was separated from his Father because he bore our sins upon himself! He did what we can’t and that’s why we need a Savior. The only way to the Father is through the son (John 14:6) Christ is the way, the truth and the life. He never promised an easy life! Don’t expect life to be smooth. Who ever promised you that???? He promised to be with us through the fires, floods, traumas, losses…. (Isaiah 43:2), to comfort us, teach us, prepare us, strengthen us… so that we can take that message of his unfailing love to the lost. James 4:8 and Jeremiah 29:12 each tell us that if we draw near to God that he will draw near to us. If you have the courage to seek him, you WILL find him. This life is not about us being comfortable. It simply is about getting all that you need from God and then going and serving others. I pray you seek him and your life becomes one of gratitude rather than one of complaining. God is real so get real with him.

Faith and Orange Juice

Have you ever made fresh squeezed orange juice? You'll know that you have to squeeze a lot of oranges to get a very small amount of juice. That's how Faith also works in your life. Each time that you are in a situation where God in his loving ways begins to squeeze you to build your faith, you will see your faith grow and fill you, if you allow yourself to see him in those hard-pressed times. He starts us out in the same way as an infant does. Small steps, small trials and small squeezing to get us used to growing up in him. If you allow yourself to see him as you take this step and ask him to build your faith you will begin to see yourself filling up. A few of these trials may bring you to where you are filled up past your feet and you will see that you will start to walk in different directions, making better choices and stopping yourself when you know the way that you're going isn't pleasing God. If you continue to see him as he fills you with faith through precarious times you will be filled past your waist and you will notice that you will know when to sit and rest and wait for him to work or to rise and put on the armor of God and take up your sword and go fight a battle. As we continue allowing God to build our faith and fill us with it soon you will see your heart being overtaken by it and saturated in it. Your desires begin to align with Gods. As it continues to fill us it will go past our mouth and change the way that we speak and make it more pleasant to our Lord. It'll rise up above our eyes and we will begin to see him rather than our tough times and we will begin to see that nothing is impossible with his help. And as we mature some of the trials may become darker and harder but if we allow him to press us with less evidence of him being present soon our mind will be soaked with faith through the Holy Spirit and we will see ourselves standing tall and strong in his righteousness rather than our own failable strength! Yes, faith is like orange juice and if you want it bad enough you'll go through the squeezing. 

Just Sing

I will sing in the task I am to hold

I will sing in the dark and the cold

I will sing on the rough rugged road

I am safe when I sing where I am told

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. Be happy (in your faith) and rejoice and be glad hearted always; Be unceasing in prayer; thank God in everything (no matter what your circumstances may be) for this is the will of God for you who are in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:4. Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again - Rejoice!

1 Peter 4:12,13. Do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you are participating in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

I urge you brothers and sisters to look for God's grace, mercy and love in your suffering, weakness or anger. HE IS THERE.

James 4:8. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.