I watched my granddaughter the other day as she took markers with
invisible ink and colored a page of flowers in her coloring book. I smiled as
the color appeared on the flowers out of thin air, or so it seemed. Of course
the color was already on the page, but without the special liquid inside the
markers, the colors on the flowers would not have shown up. That got me to
thinking. Sometimes God is just like that. If we were honest with each other,
we would all have to admit that there are times that God seems far away or
invisible to us. Yet, He is really not.
More times than not, it is us, not God that moves away. In the
scriptures, we are told that our sin is what separates us from God. When we are
separated, we are not at peace with Him, nor do we feel His presence, and often
times it is our pride in some form that keeps us from the sweet fellowship that
He freely gives us. Psalm 138:6 tells us that “… the haughty he knows from
afar.” Often times one of the primary reasons for God’s apparent “disappearance”
to us, is our human pride. Pride repels and repulses God to be near us. For the
lost, it will inevitably keep them separated from God eternally. For the saved,
it breaks fellowship with Him. No matter how desperate we want Him in our
lives, like the young man in Mark 10, “Jesus looked at him and loved him.
"One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and
give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow
me." At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great
wealth”. What kept that young man from coming to Jesus? His pride. He was
unwilling to surrender all that was his to have all that God would offer him.
The Lord will remain invisible to us as long as He sees within our hearts an
elevated opinion of ourselves. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before
destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” God will allow us to bang our
heads against the wall, experience the pain of life and do whatever it takes
until we figure out that we really do need Him more than anything else in this
life. I Peter 5:6 tells us to “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty
hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” When we do this, then just watch
Him show up like never before. He is there, but to see Him, we must obey Him!
Loving on you today,
Bren
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