He Meets Us
I have seen something recently that concerns me a little about how we understand God in difficult times.
It is appropriate that in tough times, we “come to him when we are weary and receive rest” (Matt 11:28). It is the right thing to do to find our refuge, hope, and security in God's comfort. I believe in the Psalmist's declaration of God, “You are my Hiding Place” (Psalm 32:7).
But, a temptation in doing this is that we can use God to try and escape from our problems. The thought can sometimes go like this… “If I worship and pray and read enough, if I get close enough to God and become so focused on God, then I can ignore, forget, and deny my problems.” I often wonder how different this attitude is from drinking away our struggles or some other form of escapism. Do we allow God to be just another seemingly holy form of escape?
Friend, this isn’t the gospel! The God revealed in scripture doesn’t help us escape our problems but allows us to deal with them. He doesn’t hide what is dark in our lives; he shines light on it to redeem it. When we seek God’s presence, our problems don’t disappear, but we are put in a place where they can be dealt with. Christianity isn’t a faith that calls us to escape reality but to embrace it and to find God in it.
If God had wanted us to escape pain, he would have airlifted us to heaven long ago. But that’s not what he did. He sent His son and Spirit to be with us as we journey around this earth. We don’t escape struggle; we embrace it. It’s what Immanuel (God with us) is all about.
Embrace reality and find God there.
It is appropriate that in tough times, we “come to him when we are weary and receive rest” (Matt 11:28). It is the right thing to do to find our refuge, hope, and security in God's comfort. I believe in the Psalmist's declaration of God, “You are my Hiding Place” (Psalm 32:7).
But, a temptation in doing this is that we can use God to try and escape from our problems. The thought can sometimes go like this… “If I worship and pray and read enough, if I get close enough to God and become so focused on God, then I can ignore, forget, and deny my problems.” I often wonder how different this attitude is from drinking away our struggles or some other form of escapism. Do we allow God to be just another seemingly holy form of escape?
Friend, this isn’t the gospel! The God revealed in scripture doesn’t help us escape our problems but allows us to deal with them. He doesn’t hide what is dark in our lives; he shines light on it to redeem it. When we seek God’s presence, our problems don’t disappear, but we are put in a place where they can be dealt with. Christianity isn’t a faith that calls us to escape reality but to embrace it and to find God in it.
If God had wanted us to escape pain, he would have airlifted us to heaven long ago. But that’s not what he did. He sent His son and Spirit to be with us as we journey around this earth. We don’t escape struggle; we embrace it. It’s what Immanuel (God with us) is all about.
Embrace reality and find God there.
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