"As the deer pants for streams of water so my soul pants for you, O God. 2. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? 3. My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" (NIV)
Whether the Psalmist was in exile, or just felt that God was remote to him at that time, his agony is real. It is an awful thing to feel that God is remote from us. This question, "Where is your God?" is being asked more and more in our secular society. We are living in a time when the atheistic point seems to be winning the day, at least in the law, if not in the hearts of the American people. So we get the question that intimates that God does not exist, or is so remote that we cannot reach Him. This idea resonates with people who hope that there is no God to whom they will have to answer. What should be our reaction to this question? First, we should not take it seriously, because we know, through faith, that our God exists, and that He is not remote from us. Second, what we should take seriously is that we are living our lives so that people can see God/Christ at work in us. Maybe we need to have the attitude of the Psalmist in verses 1-2: "As the deer pants for streams of water so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God..." We should feel such a deep need for the presence of God that we seek Him in prayer everyday. When we are busy seeking everything but God, people cannot see Him at work in us. We are living just like everyone else. Third, we should practice our faith in Jesus as we move about in society. We can reflect the love of Jesus by really loving people and not seeing them as enemies, or as hopeless cases. We can reflect the righteousness of Jesus by living above reproach before people. People cannot see Him in us if we do not project His image to them by the way we live. If you know me, you know that I do not mean that we should live self-righteously and be condemnatory in our dealings with people. We need to remember that, after all, we are sinners saved by grace. What I mean is that we should take people seriously and have a genuine interest in their lives and in their souls. After all, we are not calling people to accept a religion, rather we are calling them to accept a person. When we live so that people can see God/Christ in us, it could be that the answer to the question, "Where is your God?" is answered by us. If someone should ask you where your God is, you can answer that He is right here with us at this very moment. As Christians, we know that God is present everywhere all of the time. Let's just really believe that, and beliveing it, let's live it. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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