Manifest Presence

Sometimes, I get caught up in self-pity and many other things, "self."  You ever get that way?  It is during these seasons (and as seasons go, they are longer than just a day or even a week usually) that I find my heart turning away from the face of God and as I begin to thirst for something to sustain me, I inevitably turn to something that cannot fill me.  We are all guilty of this.  We fool ourselves into thinking that we have not abandoned the manifest presence of God and that we are really just having a season of trial.  Trials sent by God to test and approve us are very different from predicaments we find ourselves in because of our own foolish choices.

Let me take a moment and explain what I mean by "manifest presence" and then I'll get back to this whole trial vs predicament thing.  The word "Manifest", in essence, simply refers to something that we believe to be true being revealed to our senses and effecting our lives.  It moves out of the realm of the idea and becomes a reality.  Our belief that God is real is not what makes Him real.  He is real because He is.  However, we are not always aware of that reality and we can ignore the signs of His presence with the greatest of ease.  But God finds ways of breaking through the darkness that clouds our senses and makes His face to shine upon us.  Another way to explain this idea of manifest presence is to think about a swimming pool on a hot summer day.  We all can imagine how nice that might be and we have experiences that we can refer to in our mind that give us a fairly accurate idea of what that is like.  This is where many of us like to stay when it comes to our intimate relationship with God.  We want it in our control and available when we need it.  However, if a swimming pool were to suddenly appear underneath you right at this moment, that would shock you into a reality that you were not prepared for.  On top of that, your unpreparedness for the manifestation of the swimming pool would reek havoc on your clothes, your hair, your phone, your wallet or purse, your computer, etc.  We all like the idea of God, but when HE actually shows up...well, you get the idea.

So, back to trial vs predicament.  A trial that is allowed to come into our loves for the purpose of forming Christ in us is very different than a situation we created because of our own silly choices.  Don't get me wrong, God is so good, that HE can even use these "fine messes" we get ourselves into to train and shape us for our betterment, but we are so quick to point the blame at Him for things we create.  For instance, my little self-pity parties.  I start staring at my navel  and then make the illogical leap to trusting in my own abilities and then I end up wishing I could eat what the farmer's pigs are eating.  It is a downward spiral that happens all to fast.  It is easy for me to enter into these self-made problem situations (especially in the middle of a God-made trial), but it is never God's fault.  We are so quick to turn to self and other lies that promise to do things that they are unable to do.  Why? I refer you back to the whole swimming pool thing.  I want God when it is convenient.  I want God when I have my bathing suit on, I'm all sun-screened up, I have the radio on and the water is just right.  The only problem is that this is not when I need God.  I need God all the time.  I need God just to get out of bed in the morning.  I need God just to tie my shoes.  I need God just the breathe.  He is not a God of convenience, HE is an all-consuming fire.  My hope for myself and for the rest of the Tri-state is that we would abandon ourselves to the reckless, and raging fury that they call the love of God instead of continually holding Him at bay with our fears and hesitations that He will mess things up for us.

Maybe you are not afraid of His messing you up, and you just really need to know that He is there.  If that is you today, write me via this blog and we will turn our faces toward His together.  One thing I have learned about God is that every single time I turn to embrace Him, He is there.  Every time!  God never fails.