Hear this promise of the Lord:
"God is able to penetrate and intertwine himself within the fibers of the human self in such a way that those who are enveloped in his loving companionship will never be alone (HG 43)".
Emmanuel. God is with us. The Lord be with you. I will never be forsaken. We are promised repeatedly through God's word that we will never be alone in this life. Christ Himself says He will never leave us or forsake us. I don't have any profound insight into this for today. I can only think on all of the times in my life that I feel utterly and completely alone. It is a powerful truth to realize that God is not only WITH us, if we belong to Him, He INDWELLS us. He is WITHIN us.
For me this means that when I don't even understand why I feel what I feel or where to begin in pouring out my worries and desires to Him, I have the confidence to say that He has so deeply ingrained Himself in me, that even without my telling Him, He has a full grasp of my every need. This is confidence itself, because it is ONLY He who can fulfill my needs. As the ultimate source of all good things in my life, God is with me.
How do I know that He is with me (beyond what is told to me in scripture and by theologians like Willard)? Willard says, "Our conviction – willing it to be so – is our only proof that God is present in our lives (HG 46)." We often scoff at this blind faith as being rudimentary. Perhaps it is - in the sense that a rudimentary understanding of Him is needed as a foundation for futher understanding of Him. We start here, with the faith that wills us to accept that God is who He says He is. But we don't stop here.
It is dangerous for anyone to assume that blind faith is the only type of faith we need when approaching God. In order to understand the mysteries He wishes to impart to His children, we must always be striving to push beyond a blind acceptance. Willard says that the call to Christ involves the discipline of constant study. We are all made to be theologians. We will not all be Calvin, but we should all use our God-given brains to try and know Him more.
Willard points out one last "proof" that we can have of God's constant presence. He says, "Life with effects beyond the natural always depends upon intimate interactions between us and God, who is therefore present (HG 50)." We, as believers, can SEE God move in this world. We are voyeurs of miracles every day. Any time that we see a life moving in an unnatural direction, we should recognize God at work (God's presence). When a man of God chooses to swallow his pride and admit his wrong before the body of Christ, we KNOW that God has moved and is therefore present. When we follow Christ's example, we KNOW that God has done this in us, because we are incapable of doing this without God.
Choose to see Him act, believers, and choose to "envelop [yourself] in His loving companionship (HG 43)."
No comments:
Post a Comment