Where do you place God? If we eavesdrop on conversations (even Christian ones) God is often only seen or spoken of in the past and the future. The present is expressed as a time when evil surrounds us and the faithful eagerly wait for “Christ to Return”. Christ to return — this has come to imply, for many, that He is not here today. Herein, I believe, is one of mankind’s most debilitating mistakes.
We look around us and see so much physical hurt and destruction. It’s automatic to envision our world without God; but God has not abandoned us. He promises, “I am the Alpha and the Omega … who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”. Revelation 1:8 (ESV)
No matter how bleak our present may appear, God has not disappeared. Much the opposite, God always walks behind, beside and before us every step we take. At the moments when we can’t walk, He stoops down, picks us up and carries us — baggage and all. What’s more, God does not stretch His arms from yesterday or tomorrow to do this. He reigns in today; and it is from our midst that He reaches out and saves us despite (and in spite of) our current struggles and sins.
God does not belong in a library catalogued under Ancient History or Postulated History of the Future. He is actively present in all current arenas of life. Realizing and standing on this truth is powerful inspiration and ammunition to surmount whatever on earth befalls us. Remember, to the world David defeated the giant, Goliath, with only a lowly sling shot and stone. However, to all who witness with faithful eyes, David felled Goliath because his Highly powerful God was by his side. This same God, “I AM”, remains by our side, twenty-four/seven, in all our present-day battles.
Society abounds with lonely people, feeling as if the world excludes them and passes them by without even a glance at their presence and worth. The cure for their loneliness is not the world recognizing them, but their recognizing God never ignores nor abandons them. We all might be a lone soul trying to reach the reward of eternity, but we are never alone. Our triune God is not even a hair’s breadth away. Our Heavenly Father lifts us into His arms when our arms are too weak to hold onto the journey. The Cross of Christ, our Brother, continually tears down all the barriers along our path. The breath of the Holy Spirit, minute by minute, pours direction, the will and the way into our heaven bound travel.
The need is not for God to show up and be seen. It is for us to recognize He never left. We, Christians, might stand up for God more boldly and tear down some present-day pagan idolatries confronting our lives, if we rip off the blinders and focus on God who, this very day, faithfully stands, right dab center, in the midst of our personal universe. This very moment is the time to faithfully see, feel, live for and love our God, who reigns in (and has the power to rein in) the present, as well as the past and future.
Thus, next time you long to see God’s existence, don’t look to the past or future. May you, instead, discover “HE IS” with you — behind, before, beside and beneath you, no matter where you go or whatever you face. GOD IS your present in the here and now. Amen and Halleluia!!!
Uplifted in a Broken Down World 