11/29/17 – Journal Entry
We should be in a relationship with God. If we start to question His love or who He is, there’s obviously a problem that needs to be addressed. If you’re in an earthly relationship you want to spend a lot of time together, right? You’re always together, know everything about each other, and are certain of your love for each other. Then daily life happens and there’s work, bills, attitudes, time apart, and you begin to question their love and devotion. Why? Their feelings and the truth of the fact that they love you didn’t change. You let doubt and fear creep in. The same can go for our relationship with God. We have a wonderful church service or time of devotion in the Lord, then the rest of our day or week starts and we begin to feel distant, then one by one we start to let our guard down. “Maybe I’ve gone too far, messed up too much,” “Maybe His grace isn’t for me,” “Maybe His healing isn’t for me,” “Maybe I didn’t really experience the Lord.” Uhh… where is that in the Bible? Oh.. nowhere! What changed? You were farther from God. The Bible says to “Pray without ceasing” and to “Pray on all occasions.” ALL occasions and without ceasing doesn’t mean sometimes. If you begin to feel far and distant from the Lord get in the Word, begin to talk to Him, tell Him what’s going on, He can handle it.
Sometimes I feel further away from the Lord than others.
First of all, it’s not based on a feeling. Second, who moved? He didn’t. Did I let “stuff” and “things” come between us?
Picture yourself sitting with God. You’re close, you’re talking, you know Him and He knows you. Then you start your day and you check your phone, get totally distracted by cat videos and Pinterest and forget you were spending time with the Lord.
Then something happens, someone calls with a need or someone is sick, and your first reaction is to panic and call a bunch of other people so they will panic with you, and you add this issue on to your prayer list at the end of the day.
Then a friend , co-worker, boss, husband/wife says something to you or doesn’t say something the right way and your attitude and day plummet and are ruined. So, you add that person to your prayer list for later.
Then you’re just so aggravated and in need of a distraction you go back on social media for a few (30) minutes.
As you walk through this day you’ve never stopped to seek or talk to the Lord. Each time something has happened you let it come between you and God and you’ve taken a step back. By the end of the day you wonder if He is even around. He is. He is waiting on you to come to Him, to ask Him for help.
Let’s go back and work this day from a different perspective.
Is social media bad? No. Is anything that distracts you from God bad? Yes. Do you feel defensive and angry because I’m talking about social media? Maybe you need to do some re-evaluating. Yes, catching up is good, but when it becomes something that distracts from your time with God or in place of a spontaneous moment with God, then it’s too much. If you’re in a relationship, don’t you just love when that person, or any person for that matter, randomly says “Hey, you’re great.” “Thank you for doing this,” etc… Do we do that with God? “God, I thank you for this beautiful sunset that I’m seeing.” “Thank You God for the way you’re going to orchestrate my day.” But we lose that time with Him if we are so distracted or consumed with every free minute on social media. So, that’s a big one that can be removed from between the Lord and us.
Something else we can allow to come between us and the Lord is when someone calls with a need or is sick. We panic and want to freak out and worry. Should this be our first action? Our first action should be to stop right then and pray. Not “add it to our list.” It’s so much easier to stop and pray than add things to our list for the end of the night. If we wait until the end of the night, what if we forget something? You know then the enemy will come in with that self-condemnation saying you didn’t do enough, pray enough, say enough, remember enough. God has said in the Bible “Do not be afraid.” He holds your future and the future of those around you. Respond in love and in prayer, listen to the person.
You may say, “Okay. That’s all fine and dandy, but I know you’re getting to the part of the person who did something wrong or responded wrong or said something with an attitude and girl… they don’t know the kind of day I had!” … Hmmm… Jesus was beaten and bruised and hung on a cross for sins He didn’t commit. Does He have an attitude with you? No. Actually, He sees things from your perspective. He intercedes to the Father on your behalf. He gave his life for you and He loves you despite your sin. Is this easy? ….NO… Is this necessary? Yes. Your attitude and reactions can set the tone for future communications and relationships with these people.
The point I’m trying to make is that in everything by prayer and petition present your requests to God (Philippians 4:6). In everything. Not just in the 10-15-60 minutes you give God in the morning or the evening. He wants to be a part of your every-day life. Of every moment.
When He feels distant, it’s not Him who moved, it’s you who moved or put things in front of Him.
Maybe I didn’t list your exact situation or your exact “daily life” but the principle stays the same. In everything draw near to God. He is with you always. You are never alone. He cares about your day and what’s going on. He wants to help you through those attitudes, conversations, situations, problems, of daily life. He also wants to hear when things are good, not just when they’re bad.
I pray that you draw nearer to the Lord than ever before. That you have time with Him and that you choose Him over the situations of your day. That you let Him in and spend time with Him.