Is God present is our lives? Does something make God withdraw from us? What happens if God withdraws from us?
Another perspective of looking at this is? Have we welcomed God into our lives? Have we made him feel welcomed into every part of our lives? How does life look like when God is present?
Psalm 46:1 states, "God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble". This is a beautiful verse, a verse of promise. We love verses of promises, but the danger is that many of us take them out of context. In Psalm 46: 2 - 9 it states how God is our refuge and strength and a very present help through the various situations mentioned. But in verse 10, it says, in order for you to look at God and experience God as a very present help, you need to be still and know that he is God. You need to sit in his presence and feel him in your life, in your every moment, in every situation of your life, only then can you truly experience his help and his faithfulness.
Today, we have the Holy Spirit who is willing to dwell in us and is willing to transform our lives, by reminding us of Christ and his teachings and convicting us when we tend to walk away from the Word of God. But, we need to welcome him into our lives willingly and intentionally.
When God's Spirit was present in people, we saw...
Jesus a carpenter was able to perform wonderful miracles and speak out great and commanding words which had life.
Elijah and Elisha were able to perform great miracles.
Samson was able to have great strength.
Peter and all the apostles who were afraid and hid themselves were transformed to be bold individuals, preaching out the gospel and even sacrificed their lives for the sake of Christ.
Saul became Paul and was transformed from being a persecutor of Christ to a preacher for Christ.
David a normal shepherd boy was able to win over goliath and later reign over Israel as one of the greatest Kings.
Daniel a youth was able to faithfully stand before Kings and give glory to God.
Joseph a young boy who went through so much of trials, was able to walk away from sin and be lifted up in the land of Egypt as the second in command.
Moses a person who did not have confidence was able to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.
Joshua the assistant of Moses able to take over from Moses, the great leader and continue to lead God's people into the promised land.
Gideon a boy who was very frightened was able to lead the few men to overcome the great wall of Jericho.
Nehemiah was able to build the walls around Jerusalem in just 52 days.
Stephan an apostle was able to boldly proclaim Christ and be the first to be martyred for his faith.
The early church was able to give and share, their materials and live a life of prayer and worship.
David in Psalm 16:11, states “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” David is one person who truly experienced God's presence in his life and had so much passion and zeal towards God.
When Joshua takes over from Moses, he would be have so worried, anxious as to how he could fit into the shoes of Moses, the great leader, but God affirmed him by stating, "Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave or forsake You." Today this same God is affirming you.
God does not withdraw his presence because of one sin. God has been forgiving, and continues to show his mercies to us in spite of our continuous wrong doings. But there were also instances when God withdrew from peoples lives. Sadly the moment God withdrew, peoples lives were in disarray.
When God withdrew from Israelites, the nation divided into 2 and were sold into slavery, and were scattered all over the world
Judas who betrayed Jesus finally hanged himself.
Simson lost all his power and died a sad death.
An evil spirit tormented Saul and sadly he with his sons perished in battle.
We see God's blessings and transformations in peoples lives when he is present and confusion, chaos, destruction and death when God withdraws from peoples lives.
We need to be thankful to God for his grace and mercies every single day of our lives and be grateful to him for all what he has done and his everlasting love for us.
James 4:8 says “Come near to God and He will come near to you,". Let us call upon the Holy Spirit into our lives and stay still in God's presence, just like Mary who selected the portion which could never be taken away. God in his faithfulness is able to transform our weakness into strength, our fear into boldness, our cry into joy, our needs into fulfillment and from emptiness to contentment.
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