GOD’S PRESENCE AND YOUR ABSENCE

In a world where Christianity is stressed yet hidden, taught but forbidden, a common practice yet rarely taken seriously and loved but still despised. The common belief may be that Christianity is only acceptable when times are hard. God is only existent when we need Him the most. Prayer is only necessary when our personal issues have reached their climax. That is when the world can accept Him. At the same time, as we seek Him during these storms, we question who He is and why He does what He does. We don’t understand His ways, we are quick to judge Him and sometimes, we denounce His name because we simply just don’t understand Him. When the storm has passed and the tears are dry, He becomes nonexistent again and believe it or not, we are quite okay with that. We no longer speak His name, the praises are gone for now, our appreciation is now a skeleton in the closet.
Many of us were raised in the church. We were taught to say the famous bedtime prayer, “Now I lay me down to sleep….” We prayed over our food, “God is great and God is good, today we thank Him for our food….” And one of the first songs that we memorized was “Jesus Loves Me.” Every Sunday, your mother probably dressed you in your Sunday’s best, fresh haircut, fresh pressed curls, tights that itched and always got torn, dress shoes that you had to scuff every chance possible and cookie crumbs and juice spots on your new white shirt. We couldn’t wait to get to church and either sit in the sanctuary or go to children’s church because you were either hungry and couldn’t wait for snack time or simply because you would see your childhood best friend at church. Life was good, God was great and to a certain extent, we were not liable for our actions.
Skip about 15 years down the road now. Here you are, its Sunday morning and you are either at work, mad because you just got home from the club at 5am and now have to be at work at 9am. Maybe you didn’t have to work, but because of last night’s festivities, you just cannot get your body out of bed. A possible attempt to make it to church crossed your mind but for some reason, your body fought you about it and you lost. “God knows my heart,” sounds familiar? This is what you say, as you lay back down and promise that you will make it to church next Sunday. God understands because that is what He does. He is gracious and merciful, right? He is forgiving and won’t mind if you miss a day, right? Soon, this becomes a weekly habit that you just cannot shake. Next thing you know, it’s been about a month since the last time you heard the Word. You feel that reading a bible verse here and there can serve as a substitution. Maybe a prayer in the morning and one at night will do because, say it with me, “God knows my heart.” So God knows your heart, but is God in your heart? Of course He knows because He is the creator of all things, even you and I. So come with something better.
Let’s take a quick look at what a relationship is; defined as “the connection between two or more people or groups and their involvement with one another, especially as regards the way they behave toward and feel about one another,” a relationship consists of involvement and getting to know a person on an intimate level. God already knows you but do you really know God? Do you understand why He does what He does? His purpose on your life? What He needs you to do to really know and understand Him? Do you know His voice because if you did, then this walk that we call Christianity wouldn’t be so hard.
Many times, we get so caught up in what the world considers cool and acceptable that we forget that while we are in this world, we are not to be of this world. Easier said than done, trust me, I know but I also know that God is open and is forgiving. He knows our struggles, our weaknesses and what we need to do to get stronger in His ways, but He will not continue to give us what we want if we do not give Him what He needs. It’s only human to want without having to give and that is how we treat God. We want Him to bless us, answer our prayers, protect us, provide for us and counsel us but we refuse to work for Him. We don’t give praise where praise is due. We barely go to church. We don’t speak of His name to our unsaved friends. We don’t praise Him just because of who He is and not because of what He has done. We don’t know His voice. When you go to work, do you just sit there and stare at the clock until its time to leave but still expect your 401K, medical, vision and dental benefits? You walk in, you don’t speak to anyone, you ignore your supervisor and dare your boss to fire you? Well God is our boss, yet He is more patient. He is allowing you to be “lazy” for a little while, waiting patiently while throwing a couple of bricks in your path, to trip you up, seeing if you eventually will wake up.

By Monisa