Alone with God

I thought it'd be appropriate to post this A.W. Tozer excerpt for a few reasons - mainly for personal encouragement. I'm writing this first paragraph after having written the complete blog entry and can honestly say that my final statement is true.

The Loneliness of the Christian

by A. W. Tozer

The loneliness of the Christian results from his walk with God in an ungodly world, a walk that must often take him away from the fellowship of good Christians as well as from that of the unregenerate world. His God-given instincts cry out for companionship with others of his kind, others who can understand his longings, his aspirations, his absorption in the love of Christ; and because within his circle of friends there are so few who share his inner experiences he is forced to walk alone.

The unsatisfied longings of the prophets for human understanding caused them to cry out in their complaint, and even our Lord Himself suffered in the same way.

The man [or woman] who has passed on into the divine Presence in actual inner experience will not find many who understand him. He finds few who care to talk about that which is the supreme object of his interest, so he is often silent and preoccupied in the midst of noisy religious shoptalk. For this he earns the reputation of being dull and over-serious, so he is avoided and the gulf between him and society widens.

He searches for friends upon whose garments he can detect the smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces, and finding few or none he, like Mary of old, keeps these things in his heart.

It is this very loneliness that throws him back upon God. His inability to find human companionship drives him to seek in God what he can find nowhere else."

From: Man - The Dwelling Place of God, Chapter 39 : "The Saint Must Walk Alone"

I could not have come across this at a better time! You ever go through one of life's episodes that you don't fully understand, and can't fully articulate, yet know it's God's doing? I've experienced this for at least the past 60-90 days.

Although I couldn't put my finger on why, I felt so alone that at times that I've spent days wondering 'what's the point?' - 'if I'm running this race alone, then why even run hard?' I've felt like Paul must have felt when he wrote I Californians -[witticism]- warning them to flee carnality, cling to the saving work of the cross, and walk in the Spirit only to have to write them a second time concerning similar things. Every thing from what I believe to be a clearly biblical worldview on the Christian's responsibility during this last presidential election, to constantly defending the Bible and Gospel [to believers], at times has mentally driven me to the darkest of corners, where all I could do was cry out 'Lord where have all your people gone, am I supposed to be all by myself or do I have to change?' to which He replies "YES".

As Tozer so pointedly named the chapter in his book that I took this quote from, 'The saint must walk alone'.

"The man [or woman] who has passed on into the divine Presence in actual inner experience will not find many who understand him....

....It is this very loneliness that throws him back upon God. His inability to find human companionship drives him to seek in God what he can find nowhere else."

I have undoubtedly been driven to seek in God what I can't, and shouldn't find anywhere else. The union, love, alliance and trust can only be found in Him. Ever since the creation of man we were designed to find solidarity in Him(Gn 1:27). Any and everything else will inevitably let us down(Ecc. 1:14). Even our Lord Jesus was prevented from performing miracles because the people in His hometown rejected him (Matt 13:53-58). He was left alone in the garden by His disciples (Mk 14:37) and ultimately betrayed by Judas (Luke 22:3-4). In all of these instances Jesus relied on God the Father for strength, comfort and perseverance. If it's fit for Him, I submit that it is likewise fit for us today (Matthew 10:24-25).

Is it time for you to become at home with being 'alone'? Ask the Lord how He might use some unaccompanied time with Him so they you might come to know Him better and your faith might grow.

Mine just did at 2am on a Monday night.

Bait and Switch

I just stumbled across this animated commercial that made me think. In the marketing & advertising business it's often said that "perception is reality" for the person who views your advertising message. It does not matter whether the audience believes the message to be true, only that they perceive it to be true. Their actions will be the same whether they believe it or only perceive it. Often times companies prey on consumers by advertising falsely and telling half truths (which are whole lies btw) in order to make the sale. In sales we call this the "bait and switch".

The enemy of our souls is very good at this. Satan constantly presents us with lies in hopes that we perceive them as truth, and consequently fall into sin. Once we do this it's not long before you get dropped like a bad habit or hot potato and are left to reap the fruit of the bad decision(s) sown.

The most common reaction to the tempation to sin is looking for a way around the situation.

Thoughts like "but I have to feed my family" and/or "the Bible doesnt explicitly say do/don't _____" begin to loom. Or how about this one: "Nobodies looking, I just want to see why everyone on the internet keeps talking about this video, I'll turn it off it gets too bad"

Instead of fleeing our lusts & immorality; pursuing righteousness (I Cor. 6:18; II Timothy 2:22), and resisting the devil (James 4:7) --- some of us often dive in head first because "we all fall short". Ehhhhh.... not like that we don't!

This is not the way it is meant to be for the Christian.

1 Peter 5: 8-9 says

Be sober-minded;be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith...

So the next time there's the temptation to sin, first consider this.

Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. [1 Cor. 12-13]