Can you believe we’ve been in the 21st century for nearly 20 years? It’s amazing how much things have changed, but what’s probably more amazing is how little they have changed.
More than 2000 years ago, Jesus warned: “…others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.” (Mark 4:18,19)
I was struck last night and this morning by a feeling that maybe God was asking me to come out to meet Him in a wooded area near my house. I immediately went to my go to, that’s not God, that’s me! God is everywhere, he doesn’t need to meet me somewhere else, He’s here, now! Right, right… and right.. BUT… it’s probably me that needs to meet Him somewhere else! Ouch.
Luke 5:16 says: “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Somehow I doubt Jesus thought that His Omnipresent Father was the one that needed a change of venue. If Jesus did this, then it seems pretty likely that we should be doing this too, doesn’t it?
It’s been in fashion for centuries now for those choked out by thorns to declare that “God’s Dead.” They base this unprovable premise on their own perception of the silence they hear for the few seconds that they pretend to turn their attention His way. Many haven’t even bothered to ask Him if he’s there or not. They don’t even pretend to look, even for a few seconds. Ironically, many of these types claim “empirical science” as their proof. Unfortunately for them, science simply doesn’t apply to unprovable premises. God has chosen to exist beyond our senses, and as such, He exists beyond science.
When our Creator exists beyond our senses, and we’re creatures barely aware of anything that doesn’t stimulate our senses, then our senses become our enemy. The pursuit of God is not meant to be like skydiving or smelling a rose. Those things are just partial representations and woefully inadequate to describe the eternal. Music as a form of worship can begin to bridge the gap, but barely! Even performed perfectly and spontaneously, responding to emotions, or better-yet responding to an aspect that transcends emotions and thoughts; even that, barely takes us to the place where God wants to meet us:
The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.‘
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
1 Kings 19:11-13.
If that doesn’t bring a tremble to your soul you’re probably distracted. Read it again, maybe multiple times… Keep reading it over and over until you experience a glimpse of what Elijah experienced. The One that made everything just said my name. The One who is everywhere and knows everything has His eyes on me. He sees me, knows me, and knows what I’ll be doing 10,000 years from now! I can barely type this from the tremble, and still this is only a glimpse of what Heaven is like:
“I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
“Woe to me!’ I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.’”
Isaiah 6
It’s me! I’m the problem, not God. I need the lonely places. I’m more “dead” in this world than He could ever be. I’ve come to the crossroads of death and life and I choose LIFE! I choose faith, I choose to drop all of my worries for some time and seek the Lord of Glory! I’ve been absent, but I won’t stay that way. There have been days that I’ve gone the way of the dead, but not today, and not tomorrow. I’ve been absent, not Him.