(Further reflections on “Is the Lord with you?”—Sunday 6-Mar-2022)
We, as Christians, long for God's presence in our life. The feeling of knowing someone who is powerful and always there for you in good or bad times is everyone’s dream. Thankfully this is not just a dream or positive thinking but the reality of those who intimately know God; believe in Jesus, and live in line with God’s Word. God made His dwelling in us through the Son, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. God’s presence means blessing, which more than often is the subject of ‘misinterpretation’ by His people, who are inclined to assume His blessing must have been in their terms or the world's standards. This perhaps is the "mystery" of our earthly miseries or suffering as we probably would never be able to know if we are in "Joseph's case" or "Job's predicament." In both cases, they experienced God but it was in a totally different angle. God’s presence was there in both cases. They both faced adversity and cruelty of life in its earthly terms and conditions. As a reader, we saw tangible evidences of God’s behind-the-scene presence in their life and they didn’t know at first. We, as Christ’s followers, can easily miss God’s blessing in disguise due to our blind spots which are more numerous than we tend to think. The problem has never been about God’s presence, but the absence of the renewal of the mind (cf. Romans 12) and our blind spots. It is not uncommon that we all are guilty of missing God’s blessing in disguise from time to time. So it is very common for Christians to be ungrateful and take God’s presence for granted. God’s word is not being treasured. Time and space to be in communion with Him is not reserved. Fellowship during the week is not part of lifestyle. Sunday gathering is not being considered a non-negotiable meeting. As a result, it is understandable that some people are prone to miss counting God’s presence and His blessing in plain sight as well as in disguise, especially when trials hit.
We, who are in Jesus, will experience life in its full spectrum of God’s blessing. It will be very challenging emotionally for us to know whether the Lord is with us in this or that. Thus, it is wise practice to ask ourselves from time to time, especially when we face important decisions in our life, “Is the Lord with me in this?” Probably, we will never be able to have 100% certainty, but there are two tangible indicators that may help us in ‘detecting’ God’s presence. They are ‘favor’ and ‘fear’ (cf. Genesis 39). We usually know whether we are in good terms with Jesus or not. We will know and experience favors from the Lord and favors from people (who even don't know or are against God). We also know whether the fear of the Lord is present in our life or not when we face temptations/trails. If/when we have no hesitation in committing a sin or wrongdoing, because no one sees and nobody knows, then likely there is no fear of God in our life (or perhaps it only exists on Sunday). Now when placing the 2F (“Favor & Fear”) indicators in the light of the cross, they appear even clearer to us and allow us to see whether we are on the right track with the Lord or not. Every time we think of the cross, we should see God’s favor upon us through Jesus Christ. It should also instill the fear of the Lord in the light of sin being punished on Jesus on our behalf as we are being spared by His mercy; saved by His grace; welcomed by His love; reconciled by His justification; sanctified by His word and the Holy Spirit; and accompanied by His Body—the church/His people till the final destination.
We, sojourners on planet earth, need to learn and read 2Fs indicators, and see God's blessing in plain sight and in disguise. And the Body of Christ was founded by the Lord and is always edifying by sojourners (and for sojourners) who learn to count, consider, believe, lead, and live it all joy in and through Jesus Christ.
Love and blessings.
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Pastor Lap
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