I've been thinking about yesterday's blog on forgiveness. Relationships have a way of collecting a lot of dust. They begin to rust from lack of attention and care. One of the insidious culprits is an inability to forgive. After all the little (or big) breaks in trust are tallied it equals a lot more than we thought. And it hurts the relationship ... if we're not careful ... if we can't work toward forgiveness ... it can be fatal.
I've decided that one of the key solutions is the presence of God. I don't mean some esoteric knowledge of God being near. Schaeffer argues brilliantly for the existence and immanence of God, but I doubt you'll feel God any nearer after reading his book. Neither do I mean some charismatic experience of God where he manifests himself in some kind of spectacularly loud way. Not that there's anything wrong with that -- I just like it better when God talks to me nice, and quiet like (I know that's poor English ... that's just the way we talk where I come from). I guess what I am talking about is an awareness of God's constant presence. In the good. And in the bad. When I'm surrounded by friends. And when I'm surrounded by trouble. God is there. Often, it doesn't feel like it. But he is. That's why I have to focus on his presence especially in the good times. That way I'll already know going into the bad times that he is there. If I wait for the bad times to practice His presence (like a lot of folks do ... screaming for God only when the house is on fire), I will feel terribly alone. But I'm not. He's there.
You see, the reality and certainty of God's presence doesn't depend on any particular place or time. It doesn't depend on my belief or will. It depends on nothing, but His unstoppable consistency. Our trouble is we rarely live in Reality ... we live too much in this world's warped sense of Reality. The world fools us. The world distracts us from Reality. The world screams at us that it is impossible to walk on water. So, like Peter we step out onto the water and sink because we listen to the world, and in so doing, we take our eyes off of Him. With our eyes on Him ... everything begins to heal ... marriages, scars, pains, bitterness, hurt ... they all melt away. When we keep our eyes on Him the impossible (like walking on water, and like forgiving), become possible. The presence of God is here ... you need only to embrace it to find forgiveness and healing.
------------------------------------------
I'm off to Alaska tomorrow to perform a wedding for one of our members. I'm flying back the next day, but I'm not sure whether or not I'll have Internet access. Check back tomorrow and I'll let you know!!
Blessings,
pastor ellis
Comments