“I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show You My power and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Ex. 9:16
Have you ever felt like the Jewish believers in this passage: “O Hope of Israel, our Savior in times of trouble! Why are You like a stranger to us? Why are You like someone passing through the land, stopping only for the night? Are You also confused? Are You helpless to save us? Jer. 14:8
Likened to these folks, undoubtedly, some of us are also feeling estranged, prostituted, misdirected or abandoned by God right now. (And no doubt, some of us who are feeling this way deserve it, because we have done some serious “straying” from God’s best for us.)… But what about those of us who are not being chastened by God’s loving hand of discipline? What about those of us who are seeking God wholeheartedly (Mk. 12:30) yet find ourselves struggling with “Divine abandonment issues”?
Despite what we’re sensing or how things appear, we are prudent to keep Divine focus and acknowledge what the Israelites acknowledged in the very next Jeremiah verse, “You are right here among us, LORD. We are known as your people." Jer. 14:9
Recently we Cleary’s had a proverbial door slam shut on us. In this particular instance, the situation was not one of personal perseverance and overcoming, but a life lesson produced by God for us to recognize that He was not in this thing and He was shutting this particular door. What was our response? Well, because we’d been seeking God during this entire process, when the door that we wanted closed, oddly, we got excited. Excited? Yep. ~Sure we could have stayed in the game and forged on in our own talents and strength, and perhaps we may have even experienced limited success, …but the tried and true principle that we Cleary’s have learned in our almost 30 years together is this, “If God ain’t in it, get out ASAP!”
And although God hasn’t given us clarity as to His reasons, nor has He opened another door, we truly have joyous inner peace as we lean on Him and wait in eager anticipation for what He will reveal in His perfect timing.
So how about you? When you get a figurative door slammed in your face or when things just don’t make sense in your life, what’s your response? Where do you go to gain perspective/understanding? ~~ Do you first go to God and pour out your concerns, fears, anxieties, confusion, heartache or pain to Him like the psalmist in Ps. 57:2? “I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills His purpose for me.”
Or is your and our first choice to pour out our thoughts to a friend? Go to work on our self at the gym, spa or hairdresser? Escape in a novel or a movie? Visit Internet sites? Perhaps ingest a substance to dull the senses or act out an “alter ego”? Etc., etc., etc. (10 to 1 our answer is directly related to the vibrancy of our relationship with God at the time of the crisis.)
This week let’s make it a point to remember:
· “God has saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” 2Tim. 1:9
· “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.” Eph. 2:10
May God bless you and you live for Him!
Shaun and Betsy
