Where is God? Whether it's events in the news or happenings in our own lives, there are so many situations crying out for divine intervention or at least some divine encouragement; yet, God seems distant. We read the Bible, and God is talking to Abraham, wrestling with Jacob, parting the Red Sea for Moses and the Hebrew people. Why don't we experience God in such tangible and powerful ways today? Is God asleep on the job?
This always seemed like a modern problem to me. Then I read these words, written thousands of years ago, in Psalm 44:
This always seemed like a modern problem to me. Then I read these words, written thousands of years ago, in Psalm 44:
Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep?
Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever.
Why do you hide your face
and forget our misery and oppression?"
Times have changed. The scenery and players have changed. But we have continued to struggle for millennia to relate to our Creator. Is God sleeping? My father once answered that age-old question this way:
"God is not dead in our day, as some have claimed. God is not sleeping, as the Psalmist suspects. If God seems dead to us, it is we who are dead. If God appears to be sleeping, we are the ones who have dozed off. Isaiah once spoke God's word when he said, 'I am doing a new thing, do you not perceive it?' God is forever doing new things in our midst, but the sad truth is that we seldom perceive it. We're a little bit like the fellow that looks and looks at the clouds and sees only clouds. He can never see a profile of Abe Lincoln or a butterfly or any other design.
How to see God in your common experience; this is the problem. Here are five suggestions that may help:
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| Clouds over Wolf Run Lake, Albrightsville, PA |
How to see God in your common experience; this is the problem. Here are five suggestions that may help:
First, begin tearing down the barrier between your sacred and secular life. God gave you a whole life. It didn't come with a religious compartment and a non-religious compartment. Many people wonder why they can't find God in church. It's because God is not real to them outside church. Try this for a change: Refer all things, even the smallest, simplest thing, to God. God is there in the smallest experience. God knows. God cares. Train your heart and mind on the fact that God is present even in the most mundane circumstance. Bring it again and again to your conscious awareness, and see what a difference it makes in your life.
Second, talk conversationally with God, even out loud if you're alone. Instead of worrying about your problems or the problems of others, talk to God about them. When there is thanks to be given, do it then and there. Don't save it all up and let the pastor or choir do it for you on Sunday morning. This ongoing conversation with God will help you recognize and openly acknowledge God's presence anywhere, any time.
Third, enter fully into a fellowship of believers, and draw strength from others who are engaged in the same struggle to wake up to God. Turn the small groups and classes and informal friendships in your church into places where problems and weaknesses can come to the surface without fear of condemnation and where we can see each other through and point to God in the experiences of each other. Being in fellowship with other believers can help you see your life in perspective again, and you can do the same for them.
Fourth, disengage from your busyness. Give God time and opportunity to reveal God's self to you. Don't shut God out with a cluttered life. Sometimes God is not in the wind or the fire, but rather God speaks in the quietness, in a still, small voice. To hear that voice, you must quiet yourself.
Fifth, be honest and specific with God. Don't think that you have to sweet-talk God with all that fancy religious jargon. Tell God exactly what's on your mind and how you feel. There's a good chance that if you come through as a real person to God, God will come through as a real person to you.
All of this sounds like easy and simple advice, but let me tell you it's not that easy or simple to follow. You must really apply yourself. It is the cost of discipleship. But let me share my own testimony with you: The rewards far exceed the demands. To know God's presence. To move from knowing God as a concept to knowing God as a person. To discover that God is really there in your daily experience. To know that Abraham and Moses have nothing on you so far as meeting the real God is concerned. That is to have life and have it abundantly."
From: "Why Are You Sleeping, Lord?"
Second, talk conversationally with God, even out loud if you're alone. Instead of worrying about your problems or the problems of others, talk to God about them. When there is thanks to be given, do it then and there. Don't save it all up and let the pastor or choir do it for you on Sunday morning. This ongoing conversation with God will help you recognize and openly acknowledge God's presence anywhere, any time.
Third, enter fully into a fellowship of believers, and draw strength from others who are engaged in the same struggle to wake up to God. Turn the small groups and classes and informal friendships in your church into places where problems and weaknesses can come to the surface without fear of condemnation and where we can see each other through and point to God in the experiences of each other. Being in fellowship with other believers can help you see your life in perspective again, and you can do the same for them.
Fourth, disengage from your busyness. Give God time and opportunity to reveal God's self to you. Don't shut God out with a cluttered life. Sometimes God is not in the wind or the fire, but rather God speaks in the quietness, in a still, small voice. To hear that voice, you must quiet yourself.
Fifth, be honest and specific with God. Don't think that you have to sweet-talk God with all that fancy religious jargon. Tell God exactly what's on your mind and how you feel. There's a good chance that if you come through as a real person to God, God will come through as a real person to you.
All of this sounds like easy and simple advice, but let me tell you it's not that easy or simple to follow. You must really apply yourself. It is the cost of discipleship. But let me share my own testimony with you: The rewards far exceed the demands. To know God's presence. To move from knowing God as a concept to knowing God as a person. To discover that God is really there in your daily experience. To know that Abraham and Moses have nothing on you so far as meeting the real God is concerned. That is to have life and have it abundantly."
From: "Why Are You Sleeping, Lord?"
Scripture: Psalm 44
Preached at Grace United Methodist Church
Millersville, PA
Millersville, PA
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