No matter what He is always there ever minute of every day.
"Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit? to be out of your sight? If I climb to the sky, you're there! If I go underground, you're there! If I flew on morning's wings to the far western horizon, You'd find me in a minute— you're already there waiting!" - Ps 139 v 7 - 11
Abraham as a great man of God gives me some comfort. He tells me that great men of God still doubt. The man held up by the great Apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Galatia (Gal 3 v 6) as a man of faith, needed reassurance.
God had given him a great promise that his descendants would number more than the dust on the earth. (13 v 16)
Abraham had heard God's promise but yet later he was back before God saying are you sure about this God. Surely this many descendant thing starts with one and time is ticking. (15 v 2)
God had promised him a country that would belong to him. (13 v 17)
Again he doubts and asks God for confirmation. (15 v 8)
The great thing is that God can handle doubt better than we can handle it ourselves. Doubt is an opportunity for God to give you assurance.
Abraham's doubt drove him back to God and far from beating him up for doubting he gently confirmed the promise.
Don't be scared of taking your doubts to God. We see doubt as failure, God sees it as an opportunity to show his faithfulness. Fundamentally, doubt is a process that should bring us closer to God, rather than the reverse.
Very often in life we can be faced with real disapointments.
Let down by a friend.
Not getting the promotion I expected.
No getting the university place I wanted.
We can even be disappointed by those nearest and dearest.
Even in church disappointments can be close at hand.
Why did God not heal me?
Why was my prayer not answered?
Why did they choose that person for that ministry instead of me?
Real questions with real disapointments.
How are we supposed to handle disappointment.
I read the following post by Jon Bloom at Desiring God that just blew me away:
"Joseph Barsabbas was disappointed by Jesus. Joseph was a candidate to replace Judas Iscariot as one of the Twelve, but when the lot was cast it “fell on Matthias” (Acts 1:26). I’ll bet that was a blow.
The Bible never mentions Joseph again. But tradition says he later became the Bishop of Eleutheropolis (32 miles southwest of Jerusalem) and died a martyr. Assuming that’s accurate, imagine what Joseph may have learned about disappointment and how he might have counseled a disappointed young disciple twenty years later."
Please read the rest of the article here.
This guy was not disappointed by a family member, a friend or pastor he was disappointed by God. He didn't walk away when his opportunity to be one of the "Big" 12 he faithfully served his master with everything he had even giving his life.
Honestly, I have never come even close to touching the heartache and pain that this guy Job, written about in the Bible, faced. But some of the things he says resonate so much with our thought process, doubts and questions about God.
In v 20 of Chapter 30 he says:
“I shout for help, God, and get nothing, no answer!
I stand to face you in protest, and you give me a blank stare!
Not getting what we want tends to rattle our Faith.
In Chapter 29 Job takes us back to his life before all this started. A life guided by God, being respected by others, of honesty, of kindness and generosity to people. The list goes on. The picture of a life I only wish I come close to living.
So in our mind and Job's God HAD to turn up. He HAD to step in. Job had done his part by living an exemplary life so now God was obligated.
Pete Wilson says in his book Plan B
"We are looking for a quick spiritual transaction that doesn't lead to a deeper level of intimacy but gives us what we want."
The story of Job leaves me with more questions than answers and I don't understand why God sometimes does not act.
What I am coming to realise more and more is that God is calling us, through anything and everything, the good and the bad, something that actually scares us more than anything that life could throw at us. That is a journey of intimacy with Him and trusting in the silence is a vital part of that journey.
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