Finding God

By D’Ann Davis, Women's Ministry Director

“The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.”

Psalm 145:18

“But I spent time with the Lord, and He did not meet me.” There are few things in the Christian life that feel more defeating than when we have taken the time to seek the Lord’s face, and we walk away feeling stood up. We read, we prayed, we journaled, we cried, and we came out on the other side just as discouraged, confused, and empty as before. Sometimes we feel worse off than before we spent time with Him at all.

I don’t pretend to have all the answers as to why sometimes God seems to tarry in His nearness. Sometimes we simply must keep going, trusting in the truth of Jeremiah 29:13 that we will find Him when we seek Him with all of our hearts. But Psalm 145:18 gives us some insight into why we might find the Lord not picking up our phone call; maybe we are dialing the wrong number.

“The Lord is near to all who call on Him,” the psalmist tells us, “to all who call on Him in truth.” The qualifier provides us clarity. There are countless times in which I have called upon the Lord, but not in truth. I have called on Him in my feelings, in the lies I believe, in accusation, in anger, and in bewilderment. When I base my view of God on those things and not the truth, I find it difficult to hear from Him. When I call on Him in truth however, even in the midst of great sorrow, confusion, or despair, I’m far abler to hear clearly from Him. Thankfully even as we fail in this, God is gracious. God is not threatened by our negative feelings; instead, He asks us to share them with Him (Psalm 51:6). He is also not needing for us to have a cleaned up view of Him before approaching Him, as Jesus has paved the way for us to be near to the Father and sympathizes with our weakness in this area as well (Hebrews 4:14-16). “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, ‘made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved’” (Ephesians 2:4-5). Thankfully, it is the blood of Jesus, and not our ability to see God perfectly at all times, that saves us and reconciles us to the Father.

So God has made the way for us already, and He is inviting us to walk in it. When we are hitting a wall with the Lord and are finding it impossible to hear from Him, we would be wise to ask ourselves, “Am I calling on Him in truth?” Quite possibly we are not feeling near to Him because we are not calling on Him in truth, but are instead nursing the lies we believe in the throes of self. In this verse God is graciously exhorting us to call on Him in truth. When we root our view of life and circumstances on the solid rock of His character, it totally transforms how we approach Him and the intimacy we can share with Him. Conversely, when we insist on viewing Him through the lens of our life and circumstances, we will continue to hit a wall with Him.

So let’s be people who call on Him in truth. Psalm 73:28 tells us the nearness of God is our good. God is near when we call on Him in truth; the nearness of God is our good; calling on Him in truth is our good. Let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence as Hebrews 4 encourages us to do, knowing that when we seek Him, we will find Him.

Dear Lord, thank You that You are near to ALL who call on You, to all who call on You in truth. Lord, we are broken people and we have a hard time seeing You as You are as we fight our flesh and brokenness. Please continually reveal Yourself to us that we might know You better and love You more. Please help us call on You in truth. Thank You that You are good and faithful to respond. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

What Do You Expect?

By Samuel Parrish

“After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.”

Matthew 2:9-10

Advent carries with it a sense of expectation that we find no other time during the church calendar. It is a season of beginnings, of promises fulfilled, of hope in the midst of great darkness. The promised Kingdom of God is finally here, and according to Matthew’s account only a handful of scholars from the east were even looking for it. The entire Roman world was churning with activity as two million men and their families traveled back to their ethnic homeland for the Great Census. While the world was looking for a hotel room, these men were looking for God.

The magi from the east knew what they were looking for. The prophets were clear: a king would be born in Judea in Bethlehem who would be the great shepherd for the nation of Israel. Their studies pointed to a star that would rise over the place where the king was born. In the Matthew account, they saw the star after their meeting with King Herod, and rejoiced that they had found what they were looking for. Their joy quickly became generosity as they presented Mary and Joseph gifts fit for the king in their midst. Expectation. Fulfillment. Joy. 

So then why does the Advent Expectation end in sorrow for so many of us year after year? Maybe it’s because that’s all we expect Christmas to be. It’s one more year of watching people’s perfect lives on social media as they decorate Christmas cookies and go look at neighborhoods lit up for the season. It’s one more year of family gatherings with those same people who hurt you years ago, and never apologized. It’s one more year alone because you can’t hang out with “those people” anymore after you started following Jesus. We expect to be forgotten, to be hurt, to be alone. And every year that’s what we find. 

What would it take to look for something else?

God has promised us that if we look for him, we WILL find him. Proverbs 8:17 says “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.” He says the same thing in Jeremiah 29:13. Jesus says the same thing in Matthew 7:7.

The wise men went on this journey two thousand years ago, and their journey ended with joy and extravagant generosity. 

As the daylight fades and the nights get colder, let’s go on a new journey this year that’s really several millennia old. In faith, let’s expect to find God this Advent season. Let’s expect to find glad tidings of great joy for each and every one of us. And then, let’s diligently seek him knowing that he will be found!

Am I Going to Make It?

By Samuel Parrish

^“And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

Matthew 24:12-13

For the individual just rescued by Christ from the kingdom of darkness, and now a part of the saints of light, the future is a bright and wonderful thing. His heart is full of gratitude for the weight of sin that has been lifted. Her soul sings for the freedom given without measure, overflowing. Joy promised now, and for eternity. 

And then we fall the first time. 

It isn’t the first time we’ve sinned since coming to Christ, but it probably is the first time we’ve given in to that thing that we found freedom from in the first place.

And doubt begins to creep in. 

Am I really his?

Was this some religious experience or passing feeling?

If I’m “saved” why do I keep doing the same kinds of things he supposedly saved me from?

Then we see verses like Matthew 10:22, 24:13, James 1:12, and others that seem to say that how we end of this race is just as important as how we began. Sin seems just a big now as it was before and we despair. 

The Apostle Paul helps us on both sides of this question as we struggle through what it means to really be in Christ, and the chances we have of “making it.” 

In Philippians 2, Paul urges believers to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. In light of who Christ is and what he has done for us, indwelling sin should cause us discomfort. And gloriously we find out in the very next verse that this discomfort for indwelling sin is in fact a holy one.

“For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

Paul says it even more directly in the chapter before. 

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

How can Paul say this with such confidence while at the same time writing to Timothy that he is the chief of sinners? Simply, because Paul cherished something about grace that many of us just give a passing nod to: we did not deserve it in the first place. Paul’s confidence in the Philippian church enduring to the end had nothing to do with their ability to do it, and everything to do with God’s faithfulness to keep those that he calls. Our working out of our salvation is not a paying back of God for the gift of salvation, but a deeper and deeper understanding of how the grace that saved us is needed daily to keep us. 

So what do we do when what we know about grace doesn’t line up with what we see ourselves doing day to day?

Instead of despairing, take hope in the same way that one of our brothers did almost 600 years ago. 

“One day when a certain man who wavered often and anxiously between hope and fear was struck with sadness, he knelt in humble prayer before the altar of a church. While meditating on these things, he said: "Oh if I but knew whether I should persevere to the end!" Instantly he heard within the divine answer: "If you knew this, what would you do? Do now what you would do then and you will be quite secure." Immediately consoled and comforted, he resigned himself to the divine will and the anxious uncertainty ceased. His curiosity no longer sought to know what the future held for him, and he tried instead to find the perfect, the acceptable will of God in the beginning and end of every good work.”

-Thomas à Kempis “The Imitation of Christ” pg. 25