God Is With Us

 

It amazes me how easy it is to forget that God is always with us. He even promises to never leave or forsake us. The Psalmist refers to God as an ever present help. So why do we forget this help is always with us?

When situations arise that are proving difficult, scary, uncomfortable – why do I first panic, grow anxious and struggle with how to make the situation go away? Why don’t I first stop and pray, thanking God that He is here with me in the middle of this struggle?  Why is my first instinct usually not to call out to God? It certainly isn’t because I don’t want or need His help. It isn’t even that I am seeking to exclude Him, although sometimes I might think it’s too small a deal to bring to Him. Many times, though, I just don’t think to call on God first when trouble strikes.

Now once I’m in the middle of the situation, and things are going from bad to worse, I am much more apt to cry out. But at the start, more often than not I just put my head down and try to struggle through it. 

How crazy is this?  I have the Creator of the Universe desiring to have a 100% relationship with me. He has asked me to be anxious for nothing but in everything pray, ask Him. I am invited to have this experience with God, and I somehow forget He’s there.  Crazy.

It is not for lack of experience either. God has intervened in my life in amazing ways. He lifts my anxiety and brings peace into my circumstances. I have experienced this over and over, yet I still forget.  I think that’s why the Psalmist often recites memories of how God has worked in the past – as a reminder that God is in the present working as well.  Often the writer will be talking about enemies all around, feeling near unto death – and then he will remember how God brought the nation Israel out of Egypt, or how God’s promises have always come to pass, or how God helped in another situation. By the end of the Psalm the writer is in a different place emotionally.  He remembered God was there.

God often uses other people to remind us of God’s ever presence. Many times it’s friends who have reminded me that I’m not alone. God has provided these wonderful people to participate in my life, carry me in their prayers and them in mine. We’ve experienced God’s presence first hand together.

The best friends are the ones who remind us to seek God in the crises. One such friend text me every day the last week of my youngest sister’s life. She sent Bible verses and prayers. I shared them with my family, and we experienced such blessing knowing she was praying for us and reminding us Who God is and that He was there with us.  Sometimes we don’t share our worries with anyone, and we miss out on blessings such as this.

When I am invited in to someone else’s crises, the opportunity to pray for them is a great intimacy. We are often given a view into God at work, seeing what happens when God is invited in.  And that is the crux of it. God wants to be invited in. He doesn’t barge into our circumstances. We choose to let Him in or not.  Much like we don’t always appreciate family members or friends “barging in”, God gets that.  He wants to be invited. That doesn’t say He isn’t still working in our lives, but I believe when it feels like He isn’t there, it’s because we haven’t invited Him in.

I’ve been re-reading the Psalms. The writers, especially David, repeatedly paint such a wonderful picture of God as our refuge and strength, an ever present help in times of trouble. Perhaps we need to be reminded of this more often. If we can begin the habit of coming to God in times of calm, maybe we’ll be more apt to call on Him in a crisis.  The best relationships become the “best” because of time invested together. If this is true of people, it is also true of our relationship with God. We need to spend time every day in His presence. We need to share our dreams and plans. We need to find out what His dreams and plans are for us.  Just as in human relationships, trust and intimacy come with time spent and life’s details shared. The best relationships are those who know us for who we are and love us anyway. And of all those relationships, our experience with God should be first and foremost.

 

“I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved.”  Psalms 18:1-3 (NIV)