The Why ?

To the extent that it is possible, I've decided to stop asking God "why." Not because I don't wonder (because I do), but because my progress in this life has known no greater hang-up. The minute something unexpected happens, I embark on the fruitless endeavor of finding out “why.” I’ve somehow concluded that I can pretty much deal with anything if I know the reasoning behind what’s going on. But that’s not true at all. I think that even if God gave me a “play by play” of my life, nothing short of a reversal or removal of the hard times would satisfy me. In this world, it’s one’s actions that garner trust. As a result, the passage of time where it seems like nothing is happening can make one question the sincerest and most concrete of promises.

Isaiah 55:8-11 (AMP) says:

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and snow come down from the heavens, and return not there again, but water the earth and make it bring forth and sprout, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

The frustration we experience isn’t from the unanswered question, but rather our pursuit of God’s rationale, which is infinite, uncontainable, and impossible for the human mind to grasp. But in these past couple of months God has made it clear to me that it’s not my understanding that gets me through…it’s my faith. He took me to Matthew 17:20 (AMP):

“He said to them, Because of the littleness of your faith [that is, your lack of firmly relying trust]. For truly I say to you, if you have faith [that is living] like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to yonder place, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”

Faith mobilizes God’s power in our lives. When we have faith in Him, we give Him the right of way to proceed in the situation. It allows Him to bypass our “why” blockages and not only apply a divine solution, but fortify our foundations and prepare us for our next levels in Him. God makes all of His moves on purpose. Although it’s often hard to grasp life’s unexplainables, I’m learning to turn my questions into “thank you’s,” knowing that there’s no greater fuel for the course than my faith.

Presence of God

In the past few years, I’ve come to grips with some hard, but invaluable truths regarding my relationship with God. I can’t count the times that I’ve felt like God has left me hanging. I practically beg to hear from Him and sometimes I feel like I’m met with deafening silence. I constantly pray for either a reversal or huge change for my circumstances and the response seems like more of the same. But according to His Word, being absent from the lives of His children is so not like Him. Hebrews 13:5 (AMP) says:

“…for He [God] [Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!].”

He said that He is always there and He cannot lie. So quite honestly, if I’m feeling abandoned, it is safe to say that He never left…it’s me. Ouch.

In one of the early issues of “The Sparrow,” I called the heart the “headquarters” of our salvation. It’s where God gets a spiritual pulse on us…where He settles when we accept Him…it’s where our trust and belief in Him originates. If God “inhabits the praises of His people,” has my neglect in acknowledging God for who He is made my heart unlivable? Has my keen attention to “what it looks like” and my dwindling faith put Him out?

Contrary to popular belief, God’s presence doesn’t always appeal to one’s feelings as they have the uncanny ability to distort the facts. His presence is n0t solely defined by the great times...His prompt solutions to my problems…or His taking me out of the pit of despair I sometimes find myself wallowing in. If it was, I would never know that He has the ability to be everything to everyone in every way at all times. And I would never be afforded the opportunity to dig into the arsenal of God’s character and zoom in on certain parts that make up who He really is.

His presence isn’t evidenced only by hearing, seeing or feeling Him. I believe it started with Psalm 139: 16 (The Message):

“Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day.”

The Master Architect of my life…the only One who knows the answers to the whys, hows, and whens, did a walk-through of my life before I got here. He not only outfitted it with every obstacle and trial I’d need to overcome to equip me, but complemented them with ample blessings to showcase His goodness and give me momentum. He built our lives to require His presence, so much so that getting through would not be possible without Him. As life progresses, we can draw Him near and keep Him close by praising Him. We can invoke His presence at all times by acknowledging and clinging to what we know about Him and relentlessly seeking the things that we do not.

Matthew 5:8 tells us that it’s the pure in heart who shall see God. We have to keep our hearts livable…such that even if we can’t sense God’s presence, we know that He’s there because we’ve done all we can to make Him “feel at home.” Although He may seem absent at times, God is ALWAYS working on our behalf to reveal and produce His “highest and best” in us. Rather than cloud our hearts with faithlessness and disbelief, allow God to show you who He is…