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Abandoned By God?

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In the movie, ‘Faith Like a Potato,’ a farmer with anger management issues becomes a follower of Christ in South Africa. Surrendering His life to Jesus leads him to become a follower of His Word, and this leads him to take a bold, step of faith. Needing to bring in money for his family, he decides to plant a crop of potatoes. Being that his farm is in South Africa, the land is very dry. Most would think it was dead and no life could come from it. With no rain, he begins to question his decision to plant. So after a while of waiting, he and his farm hand decide to take a chance and dig, but first they pray. As he begins to dig, what is revealed is astonishing. The seed yields crops twice the size of what is expected. How is that? He was looking for signs of rain, signs of growth above ground. All the while there was water running underneath the ground.

When we begin seeking Jesus through prayer and fasting at first it feels dry, arid and lonely. Then you begin to wonder if He has passed you by – rejected, and abandoned you. But just under the surface a River is flowing watering the seeds of your faith as you cry out to catch fire with the Presence of God. What seems to be paradoxical, and a contradiction, actually makes perfect sense in the realm of the supernatural, Kingdom of God. How can water start a fire? How can life, come from something that appears to be dry, and dead? How can God be near when He feels so far away?

Following Israel’s idolatrous practices at the golden calf Moses receives some distressing news. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I destroy you on the way. (Exodus 33:3) Could you imagine being Moses? You have abandoned your way of life, and seen God do amazing miracles through you, and for His people. And just as it seems you are nearing the finishing line – God says He’s leaving you. You can hear his anxiety as you read some of the discussions he had with God: Moses said to the Lord, See, You say to me, Bring up this people, but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You said, I know you by name and you have also found favor in My sight. (Exodus 33:12)

And Moses said to the Lord, If Your Presence does not go with me, do not carry us up from here! For by what shall it be known that I and Your people have found favor in Your sight? Is it not in Your going with us so that we are distinguished, I and Your people, from all the other people upon the face of the earth? (Exodus 33:15-16)

And he said, If now I have found favor and loving-kindness in Your sight, O Lord, let the Lord, I pray You, go in the midst of us, although it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Your inheritance. (Exodus 34:9)

Moses was sweating bullets knowing that if God abandoned them the watching world would begin to mock God, and His people. But God was working in that dry patch of wilderness. Something was happening beneath the surface that couldn’t be detected by the natural eye. In Exodus 33:14 it appears as if God is contradicting Himself, or at least appearing to change His mind, when He replies: And the Lord said, My Presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest. But notice that God didn’t say He would go with them. He said His Presence…would go with them. In fact God states in Exodus 33:2 that an Angel would go before them: I will send an Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite, Amorite, Hittite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite. What’s odd is that this Angel represents God and His Presence. He speaks for God in the first Person as you see in other Biblical references to this Angel. The Amplified Classic Translation has the following footnote for Gen. 16:7: “The Angel of the Lord” or “of God” or “of His presence” is readily identified with the Lord God (Gen. 16:11, 13; 22:11, 12; 31:11, 13; Exod. 3:1-6 and other passages). But it is obvious that the “Angel of the Lord” is a distinct person in Himself from God the Father (Gen. 24:7; Exod. 23:20; Zech. 1:12, 13 and other passages). Nor does the “Angel of the Lord” appear again after Christ came in human form. He must of necessity be One of the “three-in-one” Godhead. The “Angel of the Lord” is the visible Lord God of the Old Testament, as Jesus Christ is of the New Testament. Thus His deity is clearly portrayed in the Old Testament. The Cambridge Bible observes, “There is a fascinating forecast of the coming Messiah, breaking through the dimness with amazing consistency, at intervals from Genesis to Malachi. Abraham, Moses, the slave girl Hagar, the impoverished farmer Gideon, even the humble parents of Samson, had seen and talked with Him centuries before the herald angels proclaimed His birth in Bethlehem.”

What appeared as God’s abandoning His servant Moses, and His people, was actually a blessing in disguise. Pre-incarnate Jesus was going to be with them, and go before them, to prepare the way. In your walk with the Lord, there are times when it will appear as if God has passed you by, or even abandoned you. Don’t you believe it. Rise up in faith, pressing into the God of the unseen as if He is seen – trusting that He hasn’t gone anywhere. He is simply adjusting your focus and perspective to receive greater revelations of Who He really is. Don’t give up, and don’t give in – Immanuel, is near. The God Who called you to pray, fast and seek Him is the God that is planning a surprise party, and a bumper crop of His Glory and Presence.

Aqui’ Alli’ Alla’

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Read the following carefully: “GODISNOWHERE.” What did you see first: “God Is No Where” or “God Is Now Here?” If I were to arrange it in the following way what do you see: “NOwhere” or “NOWhere?” In Spanish there are three words to distinguish proximity: aqui (pronounced a-kee) = “here;” alli’ (pronounced a-yee)= “over there;” and “alla'” (pronounced a-yah) = “way over there.” Here, there, or way over there.

When I used to pray to God I imagined Him far removed – in outer space somewhere. He was distant, angry, and ready to pounce on anything I did wrong. I believed that He was swift in delivering punishment. Anything I was suffering was attributed towards something I had done wrong. I would try to recall what I had done to cause my suffering. When I met Him it was as if someone removed a veil, or pulled back layers of dark, insulated shades. In a flash of a moment I realized, “He is here.” As I experienced His Presence and Love I realized that He had already taken my punishment on the cross and wanted me to be with Him. It was quite the surprise when I realized that one of His Names is “Immanuel” = “the God Who is with us.” It was also a mystery to ponder the meaning to the formal Name of the Godhead: “Yahveh” = “I am, what I am.” (Or as Popeye would say, “I yam, what I yam.”) It wasn’t until later I realized God exists outside of the constraints of time. He is not limited by past, present or future. He simply is.

Much later in my walk I discovered the experiences of the prophets going to Heaven. I would imagine gathering around His Throne, often use the imagery when praying. Over time Immanuel, the God with us, returned to being the God out there, or way over there. But in His mercy brought me back to where He has always been through the apostle of prayer, T.W. Hunt. He recalled a time in his life when he had become disappointed with God regarding God’s call to teach missionaries rather than be a missionary. Adding injury to insult, they were struggling to pay their daughters’ tuition for school. The more they prayed the worse their finances got. Their daughter got into a minor accident in which their insurance was not able to cover all the hospital and doctor bills. Next she had to have a root canal which cost them more money than they had. Matters got much worse when the university began sending second notices regarding the overdue tuition. As the debts got heavier, their prayers became more fervent. T.W. became broken, not over his inability to pay the bills, but the strange delay in the answer to their prayers. He began reexamining every aspect of his relationship with the Lord and with others. One day when speaking to his wife he asked, “Why do you suppose God won’t let me be a missionary?” She answered, “Have you talked to Him lately about it?” T.W. responded that he didn’t want to talk to God about his being rebellious. She responded with something very profound, “Then maybe you should quit teaching in your seminars that He is a Friend, because you can talk to a friend!” He entered their prayer room that day and spoke to his Friend about why he found mission work so exciting. After an hour Jesus, his Friend, revealed why He needed teachers to equip the missionaries and that they were His helpers too. Following his prayer time, he received a letter from his daughter’s university stating, “This is to inform you that a friend [!] who wishes to remain anonymous has paid your daughter’s tuition for this semester.”

From T.W.’s example and many more I learned that I needed to practice Jesus being here – in the now. He challenged me with an exercise in practicing His Presence. In the exercise you set up a chair across from the one you plan to sit and pray. You prepare your favorite beverage or food, and place it in His chair. Then sitting across from Him, you imagine He is there, while you simply share the time with Him as your friend.

Throughout this week I have become conscious of my need to practice this throughout the day. I imagine Him sitting in the truck with me as I drive to church. I imagine Him being there when I am ministering to another. I imagine Him when I am praying, and meditating in the Word – and I talk with Him – as if He is right there. For you see – He is.

I read a gripping story of a godly old man whose days were coming to an end. A minister went to visit him in his hospital room and noticed an empty chair beside the man’s bed. He asked, “Have you had a visitor?” The man replied, “No, I haven’t had a visitor. But when I became a Christian as a youth, someone told me that praying was like talking to your very best friend. When I heard that, I decided to pull up an empty chair beside me every day and invite Christ to sit and talk with me. And I just finished my conversation with the Lord.”

After the man passed away, his daughter wrote of her visit to the hospital room. She said of her father:

“He seemed content, so I left him for a few hours. When I returned, I knew that he had gone to be with the Lord. But the interesting thing was that his head was not resting on his pillow. His body had turned and his head was resting on the seat of an empty hair that had been pulled up close to his bed.”