{"id":832,"date":"2017-10-25T17:27:17","date_gmt":"2017-10-25T23:27:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/?p=832"},"modified":"2017-10-25T17:27:17","modified_gmt":"2017-10-25T23:27:17","slug":"where-are-you-when-i-need-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/considerations\/where-are-you-when-i-need-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Are You When I Need You?"},"content":{"rendered":"

“…The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”<\/em><\/span>
\n – Jesus (Luke 17:20-21)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Often, when we are in pain or feeling isolated, we wonder where our God is.\u00a0 We may even echo the despaired cry of our Lord as He hung on the cross, “My God!\u00a0 My God!\u00a0 Why have you forsaken me?!”\u00a0<\/em><\/span> It is in these desperate moments that we easily forget that He is ruling in His Kingdom … a Kingdom which is in our midst – or within us, as some translations read.\u00a0 The intended meaning is that He is here, at hand, immediate to our need and our cry.\u00a0 He is available to us at once.<\/p>\n

Of course we all know that, and we confess it, but our expression of belief often denies that.\u00a0 We tend to view God as apart from us, sitting His throne and ruling at some heightened distance, far off where we need to cry out towards in order to gain His attention and care.\u00a0 We think we’re alone and we act accordingly in our follow up emotions.<\/p>\n

“Why won’t you answer me, God?!\u00a0 Where are you?!”<\/p>\n

We cry out when we are on our knees before Him.\u00a0 We lament this same thought to our friends who sit with us.\u00a0 We try to console ourselves with a warm drink and comfortable chair.\u00a0 The worship music that we play brings tears to our eyes.\u00a0 The message of the TV evangelist resonates with our own opinion that God doesn’t forsake His children … but what kind of people are we then, that He does forsake us?\u00a0 We are so alone and we do not know where God is.<\/p>\n

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“Why won’t you answer me, God?!\u00a0 Where are you?!”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What we can fail to realize is that God was there as we knelt in prayer, our defenses broken and our hearts ready to hear.\u00a0 He was present in our gratitude for a comfort that can calm and console us.\u00a0 He was there when those friends sat with us, whose hearts reached out to us in empathy and hopes that we would not feel such pain.\u00a0 He was there in the song, written by one of His children who wanted to share their joy in knowing Him.\u00a0 And He was there in His spoken Word that the preacher conveyed, the truth about who our Father is.\u00a0 And we can miss that because we are looking “out there” to see His answer.\u00a0 We can miss that He has answered five times already.<\/p>\n

So where is God then?\u00a0 He is in the outpouring of love one person extends to another.\u00a0 He is in the compassion one feels towards another who struggles.\u00a0 He is in the joy and hope that resonates from a song of praise.\u00a0 He is in the gratitude and appreciation of His provision.\u00a0 He is in everything He has told us He is.<\/p>\n

“…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”<\/em><\/span>
\n – Jesus (Matthew 28:20)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

What this means is, when you are looking for God, He is right there in your confession of His Word.\u00a0 He is there the moment you set your heart to speak with Him.\u00a0 He is there when you reach out in love or compassion or mercy.\u00a0 He is there when you quietly rest in gratitude.\u00a0 God is God, sovereign and all powerful, and you are God’s method.\u00a0 And so is everyone who hears His voice and responds to Him.<\/p>\n

When you are downtrodden and depressed and a friend knocks on your door, do you think God still hasn’t answered you?\u00a0 Yet that friend is there because his or her heart reaches out to you, and it reaches out to you because God stirred that up in them.\u00a0 They are bringing God to you.\u00a0 And while you are preoccupied waiting for a mountain to move, God is present with an answer that will bring that mountain low – through you.<\/p>\n

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God is God, sovereign and all powerful, and you are God’s method.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Which is the better gift?\u00a0 Having a mountain moved for you, or being able to move mountains?<\/p>\n

“Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.”<\/em><\/span>
\n – Jesus (Mark 11:23)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Your friend is inspired by God to come to you in order to stir up your faith in the answer God has already given you.\u00a0 Rejoice! \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

Your gratitude for the small comfort that you seek to console yourself with is God stirring up your remembrance that He is near and that you are not forgotten.\u00a0\u00a0Rejoice! \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

The tears and the smiles inspired by that song of praise is God stirring your heart to turn to Him and worship by sharing your heart with Him, both the sorrow and the joy.\u00a0\u00a0Rejoice! \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”<\/em><\/span>
\n – Paul (Philippians 4:4)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Don’t be confused into thinking that God revealed in your compassion, or in your response to a friend’s outreach of love, or your inspiration from a preaching, or a song that stirs your heart and voice is somehow just a whisper of the mighty God seated in Heaven.\u00a0 God revealed in those moments IS<\/strong> the mighty God seated in Heaven – seated in His Kingdom – which is in our midst – within each of us.\u00a0\u00a0Rejoice! \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

That friend who comes to see you is bringing that awesome Father before Whom the demons tremble and flee in order to stir up that same all powerful God Who resides in you.\u00a0 Does that shake up your preconceived ideas a bit about what God’s intervention should look like?\u00a0 It should.\u00a0 He is mighty through us – each mortal, fragile one of us – even little old you.<\/p>\n

“…’My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’…”<\/em><\/span>
\n – God (2 Corinthians 12:9)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

*** Important:<\/strong> We do not just lay back and trust that God can move our mountain.\u00a0 We stand up knowing that through us, God will move our mountain.\u00a0 We act.<\/p>\n

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God is God, sovereign and all powerful, and you are God’s method.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Ask yourselves, when we are at our lowest and feeling most alone, why do we hide ourselves away?\u00a0 Why do we avoid phone calls, and Bible studies, and church, and friends and family?\u00a0 Because that’s the enemy deceiving us to move away from where God is.\u00a0 The enemy knows God is there where we are encouraged and encouraging one another.<\/p>\n

“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”<\/em><\/span>
\n – Jesus (Matthew 18:20) <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

And the enemy trembles.\u00a0 So where is God?\u00a0 He is with you, and He is in every response you have to Him.\u00a0 Your love for a struggling friend will move mountains for them and strengthen them to be able to move their own mountains, and the mountains of others.\u00a0 The moment you pray, the moment you reach out, the moment you breath a thank You – those are moments when God is present in fullness.<\/p>\n

Fill yourself with God’s Word.\u00a0 Inspire your hearts with God’s songs.\u00a0 Encourage one another amongst God’s children.\u00a0 And move your mountain.<\/p>\n

\n

God is God, sovereign and all powerful, and you are God’s method.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Ask.\u00a0 Then act like the answer is yes … because it is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“…The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” – Jesus (Luke 17:20-21) Often, when we are in pain or feeling isolated, we wonder where our God is.\u00a0 We may […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":747,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[99,69,82,96,83,102,47,49],"class_list":{"0":"post-832","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-considerations","8":"tag-alone","9":"tag-authority","10":"tag-character","11":"tag-courage","12":"tag-faith","13":"tag-sovereign","14":"tag-spirit","15":"tag-truth","16":"entry","17":"override"},"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/07\/gospel.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/07\/gospel.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Master of the House","author_link":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/author\/master-of-the-house\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masterofthehouse.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}