We all have a tendency to drift… away from God. It is just part of our sinful nature. Take the Israelites for example. They pleaded for God to rescue them over and over again. God heard them and He did rescue them; but then they grew restless and focused their eyes away from Him. They drifted. They looked only at the needs in front of them and not at the Promised Land to come. They even complained that they would have preferred to go back to slavery in Egypt rather than struggle through the desert period while getting to the coveted Promised Land! Can you imagine?! They witnessed numerous miracles with their own eyes, yet they still begged and asked for more.
(The Holy Spirit is screaming in my ear right now about the correlation between the Israelites and our present day lives.)
We do the same things that the Israelites did, don’t we? Our view is so limited that we can only see our present needs. It is so difficult for us to see beyond our difficulties sometimes, to know that this life is only temporary and we have our own “Promised Land” (Heaven) waiting for us. We just have to walk through these desert periods and fix our eyes on the Author and Perfector of our faith. And He promises we do not have to walk these desert times alone. He is with us through His Spirit. He will guide us and direct us. He will show us the path to take.
With that said, it is so important to stress what our author talks about in the concluding pages of our chapter. Our faith must be intentional. Without daily, focused effort we will slowly drift away from our Lord. He is the only One who can help us through every trial we face, every fear we encounter, and each obstacle in our path. Chan suggests that spiritual drift is not a conscious choice, but it is happening because nothing else is propelling people toward Christ. If we do not make our faith intentional; if it is not a priority above everything else in our lives, then we should not be surprised when we wake up one morning and wonder, “where is God?”
God never moves. He never changes. He is always there. It is us that move and change and shift.
Does God take priority over everything else in your life? Does any earthly thing matter as much as your relationship with the Lord?
These are some tough questions. Many things in this chapter are convicting my heart and igniting a passion in me to dig deeper. How about you? Write out your thoughts. Journal what the Lord is speaking to you about. Answer these questions as the Holy Spirit moves you. Take the time to truly explore yourself, your time commitments, and your relationship with the Lord. If you want something to change, how can you be proactive and change it? Remember, with GOD all things are possible. Pray and commit your changes to Him and let Him have all the glory!
Have a blessed day!
Jennifer
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Let’s Pray:
Father, this book is opening up deep cuts and wounds that we have only covered with flimsy band aids. Help us to fully heal those wounds and to come to You in repentance for anything that we are discovering that is not pleasing to You. We all desire a full, rich, deep, abiding love relationship with You, Lord. Please reveal to each one of us the next step of faith we can take in pursuit of that relationship. We love You so much, Lord, and our heart’s desire is to please You always. Rid us of anything that is interfering with our time with You. Invigorate our quiet times with You. Renew a passion in us for Your Word and for living the full Christian life that Jesus speaks of in the Gospels. It is in HIS Holy, Precious, Matchless Name that we pray, AMEN!
Your Assignment:
What earthly things are currently taking precedence over God in your life?
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I just loved your blog, Jennifer. The story of the Israelites always fascinates me, I guess because I can relate to being stubborn like them. I am still working on those earthyly things that is causing interference – -mainly this thing that I am typing on at this very moment. It is not wrong; it is a wonderful tool, but I have gotten out of balance in the time I spend on it.
I agree with you on that one, Martha. The computer interferes a lot with my God time!!! I’m trying to work on it, though.
Jennifer I agree with Martha, I am stubborn too! I have gotten on track because of this book and others recently. Thank you for this!!
I am so with you ladies regarding that stubbornness!!! LOL!! I’m so glad this book has spoken to you so clearly! It’s definitely eye-opening!
This morning when I woke up my first thoughts were about God’s crazy love for me. Wow, did that feel good! Then I thought about my love for Him–how crazy is it? My commitment to getting up earlier so I can focus on time with God is like swimming upstream(pg 95). But God reminded me that He is pleased that I want to and am making an effort to do exactly that. That sure started my day off right. Then a puppy, phone calls, etc. interrupted my plan but I didn’t give up. Now I’m sitting here with a cup of coffee having read God’s Word and this study and enjoying feeling of the presence of God who is pleased that I swam upstream this morning. “Our faith must be intentional.” Exactly but not easy, Jennifer. Thank you for the reminder!
Clella, I can so relate to that. I made a commitment to get up earlier to spend some time with God before work and some weeks I do really well, other weeks…not so much. It is definitely not easy, but we can do it with His help!!
Jennifer,
Amazing blog! I am too very stubborn and want to do things my own way and not wait for God. I, too find myself like the Israelites from time to time when certain stuff going on in my life.
Yup, yup!! I can relate!! I have been trying to take a step back and remember that God has the whole picture and His plans are better than my plans. SO hard!!!
ladies, i so appreciate you! being willing to ‘see’ the things that distract us from or that we allow to take precedence over our time with God is a huge first step. now we need to encourage and support one another to being intentional in seeking Him. true?
like you, clella, i find i MUST get up earlier…and it’s working! by the grace He so lavishly gives to me, i am able to keep Him first by making Him come first! <3
Agree, Coleen. I appreciate the encouragement, support,–and prodding from this group. Thanks, Ladies.
Amen, Coleen! <3
Hi! Thanks for sharing your thoughts about this! I am from Holland and just got by this site “by accident” and love it already. I am going to keep an eye on this one to be inspired once in a while! God is the best “thing” to spend your time on, but why do we do this so little… we even know what’s best to do but just don’t do it. Fascinating and frustrating at the same time… The more you go look for Him, the closer you will get to Him. That what you give your attention will grow, whether it is faith or your circumstances… think about that.
Thanks again and see you later!
-Daniëlle