I'll Be Back!

I’m back. I haven’t written for quite a while. In fact, it’s been a few months since my last post. Time seems to skip along much faster now that I’m older and, all of a sudden, the summer season has passed and fall stands at the threshold.

I wish I could say that I’ve been absent from writing because I’ve been very busy with all the new and exciting things God is doing in my life or that it’s because I have been away on some lovely holiday at our summer home—but that wouldn’t be at all accurate. Truthfully, as far as my tent life is concerned, little has changed since the spring.

I want to confess that the primary reason for my writing absence is the lack of perceptible progress in my life. I desperately want to appear to have moved on from my dire circumstances. I don’t enjoy having to chew the cud of my stalled hopes and dreams, and frankly, few people want to keep hearing about my failures. I’d love to be able to report that major breakthroughs have occurred in my life and that my ship has finally come in. I want to say that I’ve endured hardship, turned the corner, and I’m now riding high on the wings of success.

But, while I don't want to appear like a chronic loser, I must admit that today I am relegated to bemoaning that God would fulfill what he has promised me in his Word—that he will never leave me nor forsake me and that he will always remain faithful to me. The problem is that God’s promise to be faithful is one that is not easily verified within the cage of dreadful circumstances. Have you ever wondered how to go about trying God’s presence and faithfulness within the midst of feeling you have been forsaken by him? Be honest.

In my opinion, God’s faithful presence in our life is not necessarily measured by the abundance of our peace, comfort, or success—though that would be cool. In other words, I don’t think that we should rely on outward, physical signs to be the most precise indication of God’s faithfulness and presence on a life.

People like to hear stories of great spiritual victories over meager circumstances. A puffed-up Christian testimony seems to condone our two-dollar theology that God is tirelessly concerned about our comfort in this life. But to view God as a “genie in a bottle”, ready to pour down blessings on us simply because we read our Bible or go to church, is a sad misconception and ultimately limits us to a ho-hum life. We simply cannot and should not use material gain as a measuring rod of God’s faithfulness.

So, how can we know God has NOT forsaken us when we feel forsaken?

Let me suggest a simple exercise anyone can conduct to gauge whether God is present in our lives—don't worry, it will not take much time or effort on our part. It is simply this: Give a cup of cold water to a thirsty soul. In fact, give away your OWN cup of cold water. You know, the one you so desperately need to make it yourself.

As we set out to touch the life of someone whose hope may wither without our help we begin to sense God’s presence well up within us. All of a sudden we seem to forget our own troubles as we experience the very heart of the Lord toward humanity. Suddenly we realize that God’s faithfulness to us isn’t measured so much by what he does FOR us, but more by what he does THROUGH us.