“Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1)
It can be extremely lonely if you trust in God and you are passing through a very difficult season in your life and it seems that God is far away!
We have been taught that God can stand afar off:
If we are constantly rebellious
Rebellion happens when we deliberately go against the word of God. It means to revolt, it means to say that God’s word is not true or that His word is not right. Once we have formed a habit of thinking that the Bible is not a modern book and that we must not take everything it says as relevant in today’s world, we will soon be rebellious. And it will not be too long before God stands afar off.
If we are constantly falling short of God’s requirement
There are times when we sin but we know and accept that God’s word is both true and right. In that case, we will not be described as rebellious in the extreme sense of the meaning of the word “rebellion”. But the Bible teaches us that if we know what is right and we refuse to act in the right way then we have sinned. Now we know that we are not perfect, and all of us will fall short at one time or another. However, if we have developed a habit for sinning again like we were doing before we knew Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, then before too long we will find that God is standing afar off.
If we doubt God’s love and care
Doubt is the opposite of belief. Of course, occasionally, on account of our human nature we can have doubts about God’s love and care, depending on how close we are to God and whether we are growing in His grace as we should. However, when we have unbelief rooted in our spirit, then we will not believe in things like miracles and we will not really feel we can pray to God with great expectations. When we habitually doubt God, it won’t be too long before we feel God is far off!
However, when the Psalmist says: “Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1), it was the prayer of a person who knew he was walking right with God. You know when you are walking right with God – you are not rebellious, you are not consistently falling short of His requirements, and you have strong faith in His mercy and care.
It is not impossible to know how you are doing in your relationship with the Lord. When a child is getting on well with their parent, they know! When you are doing well at school, you know! The same way, when you are walking along with God and growing in obedience and faith, you will know! Therefore when trouble comes and God seems afar off, it can be a most painful experience!
So, what’s God doing “hiding” Himself from you at your most needy time?
Well, the picture is pretty clear in the Bible when you check the experiences of those who trusted in God and who seemed to have gone through difficult times with God “hiding” from them:
Abraham and Sarah waited 25 years before God fulfilled His promise. During that time God was preparing their Isaac!
Joseph spent about 17 years waiting to become the great man that God promised Him he would be. During that time God was preparing him for greatness.
David, the sweet Psalmist of Israel was anointed king when he was about 15 years old. For the next 15 years, he went through many lonely “wilderness” seasons before he actually became king. During that time, God was putting the kingdom together for him.
Is God hiding from you? Something great is coming your way – a blessing that is greater than you can think or ask for! Amen.
It can be extremely lonely if you trust in God and you are passing through a very difficult season in your life and it seems that God is far away!
We have been taught that God can stand afar off:
If we are constantly rebellious
Rebellion happens when we deliberately go against the word of God. It means to revolt, it means to say that God’s word is not true or that His word is not right. Once we have formed a habit of thinking that the Bible is not a modern book and that we must not take everything it says as relevant in today’s world, we will soon be rebellious. And it will not be too long before God stands afar off.
If we are constantly falling short of God’s requirement
There are times when we sin but we know and accept that God’s word is both true and right. In that case, we will not be described as rebellious in the extreme sense of the meaning of the word “rebellion”. But the Bible teaches us that if we know what is right and we refuse to act in the right way then we have sinned. Now we know that we are not perfect, and all of us will fall short at one time or another. However, if we have developed a habit for sinning again like we were doing before we knew Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, then before too long we will find that God is standing afar off.
If we doubt God’s love and care
Doubt is the opposite of belief. Of course, occasionally, on account of our human nature we can have doubts about God’s love and care, depending on how close we are to God and whether we are growing in His grace as we should. However, when we have unbelief rooted in our spirit, then we will not believe in things like miracles and we will not really feel we can pray to God with great expectations. When we habitually doubt God, it won’t be too long before we feel God is far off!
However, when the Psalmist says: “Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1), it was the prayer of a person who knew he was walking right with God. You know when you are walking right with God – you are not rebellious, you are not consistently falling short of His requirements, and you have strong faith in His mercy and care.
It is not impossible to know how you are doing in your relationship with the Lord. When a child is getting on well with their parent, they know! When you are doing well at school, you know! The same way, when you are walking along with God and growing in obedience and faith, you will know! Therefore when trouble comes and God seems afar off, it can be a most painful experience!
So, what’s God doing “hiding” Himself from you at your most needy time?
Well, the picture is pretty clear in the Bible when you check the experiences of those who trusted in God and who seemed to have gone through difficult times with God “hiding” from them:
Abraham and Sarah waited 25 years before God fulfilled His promise. During that time God was preparing their Isaac!
Joseph spent about 17 years waiting to become the great man that God promised Him he would be. During that time God was preparing him for greatness.
David, the sweet Psalmist of Israel was anointed king when he was about 15 years old. For the next 15 years, he went through many lonely “wilderness” seasons before he actually became king. During that time, God was putting the kingdom together for him.
Is God hiding from you? Something great is coming your way – a blessing that is greater than you can think or ask for! Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment