Walking with Us

I've been working nights this week, and the hours are exceptional to wreak havoc on my daily schedule and writing routine!  I'm looking forward to the weekend when I can spend time with the family.  It's been nice to see Laura a bit during the day, but I have not seen my kid's faces since Monday.  In a word, LAME.

I was encouraged yesterday during my morning devotional time.  I'm in the book of Deuteronomy, and it ranks high among my personal favorites.  Deuteronomy 2:7 reads, "For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing."  Here are the initial impressions God placed upon my heart:

This is not presumption, for God knows His people.  He can say, "Thou hast lacked nothing" because He provided for every need all along the way, never skipping a day.  He does not say, "That's good enough for you!" but "You lacked nothing because I know you and your needs, and I abundantly supplied them."  What kind of God is it who does not know?  No god at all.  Notice that God does not require His people to find Him (for they never could alone) but goes with them always.  This is how he maintains such intimate knowledge of His people, their trials, needs, and desires.  Has not our God said, "I am with you always?"  God does not abandon His people in their time of great need:  He remains with them.  He blesses them along the way, though they are in the wilderness.  He does not leave in times of hardship or appear only at the oasis - He IS an oasis of life, constantly affirming, providing, protecting, and sustaining His own.  While for forty years they walked, God walked among them.  All the works of our hands are blessed when God shines His gracious presence upon us.

I am reminded of the Psalm 23 passage:  "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me."  The world must run to their gods and idols, vainly pursuing what always eludes their grasp.  Religion after religion is filled with the proud trappings of man doing something to obtain favor or an audience with God through suffering or sacrifice.  Christianity is different from them all, because our Savior Jesus Christ has come to us as a suffering sacrifice for our sin.  While people frantically are trying to bring peace on earth through political process, philanthropy, and education, Jesus has become our peace through repentance and faith in Him.  Instead of leaving us alone He has sent the Holy Spirit as our Helper and Comforter, and has set up in our hearts His kingdom.  This is made clear in Luke 17:20-21:  "Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; [21] nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you."  Christ will one day set up His physical kingdom on earth after His return.  To partake in the glory of that kingdom He must first usher that kingdom into our hearts through faith and the power of the Gospel.

Amazing, to have a relationship with the KING of Kings!  Through technology we can have a semblance of "closeness" or connectivity to those we love.  Phone and video calls bring the face and voice of those far away into our own room.  But the reality is they are still not close.  They remain sometimes thousands of miles away.  That little window of time of communication can provide so much relief from anxiety:  how much more peace and comfort can be received from the indwelling presence of God within our hearts?  The most advanced "smart" phone is as crude and unsophisticated as smoke signals compared to the connection we share with God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.  He will never leave us or forsake us.  Jesus came to seek and save the lost.  Praise God for that truth!  He is with us whether we trudge through the wilderness or through the valley of the shadow of death.  Let us follow Him in wonder!