Surely the Lord is in this place…

Ever felt like there was more to your experience than what you were experiencing?  Jacob found out what that was like… In Genesis 28, God records for us an encounter that He had with the man whom He had chosen to be His vessel of blessing to the world. 

Jacob, a scoundrel and schemer – sent away by his father Isaac to find a wife amongst his relatives – sent away by his mother Rebecca to be safe from his brother Esau – flat broke – on his own for the first time – free of mama’s skirt strings – fending for self – alone in the world – laid his head down on a stone to sleep.  On top of all of this, the writer lights our minds to the fact that “the sun had set.”  This really was a dark time in Jacob’s life – but as Jacob found out, God specializes in dark times.

“Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. 12 And he dreamed… And behold, the Lord … said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. 14 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’ 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.’ 17 And he was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’”

Genesis 28:12-17

Quite honestly, this passage amazes and astounds me.  It gives me hope and causes me to cry out for the God who is there.  I see much of me in Jacob.  Like him, I can be a conniver, a deceiver, and a schemer.  Like Jacob, there have been times in my life where I have worked to ensure that the blessings God had already promised did in fact become my own.  I told people that God could be trusted and then I went out and acted as if He couldn’t.  And even as Jacob was a usurper, I see that God’s mercy was indeed wide enough to cover the unfaithfulness and doubt that existed.  Indeed, it covers my own unfaithfulness and doubt.  I see the Gospel in this passage, for I see a God who promises deliverance and salvation to Jacob in spite of everything that Jacob has done (and hasn’t done).   

In this passage, God writes several checks that will be cashed by Jacob both at a later date and in the moment… payment so undeserved that the lavishness of the promises boggles the mind.  Land returned and bestowed even after leaving home for a couple of decades.  God’s presence and protection given in order to insure that Jacob makes it back from his travels.  And for all Jacob knows, these promises are going to cover weeks, maybe months, but certainly not years and definitely not decades!  The promise of a family that would spread through all the earth is the great indicator though that God is up to something massive.  God stays by Jacob and reveals Himself to Jacob through many years of what I am sure seemed like a desert of hardship. 

And so, with sleep in his eyes, Jacob comes to the wonderful conclusion that “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”  Ever been there?  I have.  Am.  Will be again.    God was giving to Jacob faith, the stuff without which we cannot please the Lord.  The stuff without which we can’t have relationship with God.  The stuff without which man remains an enemy of God.  The stuff without which the spiritual world remains a myth.

A.W. Tozer, a long time pastor now dead, wrote:

“Faith enables our spiritual sense to function. Where faith is defective the result will be inward insensibility and numbness toward spiritual things. This is the condition of vast numbers of Christians today. No proof is necessary to support that statement. We have but to converse with the first Christian we meet or enter the first church we find open to acquire all the proof we need.

A spiritual kingdom lies all about us, enclosing us, embracing us, altogether within reach of our inner selves, waiting for us to recognize it. God Himself is here waiting our response to His Presence. This eternal world will come alive to us the moment we begin to reckon upon its reality…

Faith creates nothing; it simply reckons upon that which is already there. God and the spiritual world are real. We can reckon upon them with as much assurance as we reckon upon the familiar world around us. Spiritual things are there (or rather we should say here) inviting our attention and challenging our trust.”

As I grow in this thing called the Christian life, I am coming to reckon more and more (like Jacob) that “the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”  I want the Lord to close these gaps of blindness more and more each day so that one day I will see more than I do now.  I am not a man of great faith, but my faith is growing and sensing afresh that there is a God who still speaks, who still guides, who still holds and protects, who still moves, who still does miracles.

Tozer, a man for whom I am growing to respect and admire more and more, continued on with his thoughts about faith:

“The spiritual is real. If we would rise into that region of light and power plainly beckoning us through the Scriptures of truth we must break the evil habit of ignoring the spiritual. We must shift our interest from the seen to the unseen. For the great unseen Reality is God. `He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.‘ (Hebrews 11:6) This is basic in the life of faith. From there we can rise to unlimited heights. `Ye believe in God,‘ said our Lord Jesus Christ, `believe also in me.‘ (John 14:1) Without the first there can be no second.”

This is more than just “Matrix” thinking, positively believing that we can somehow overcome a world that is holding us back… blue pill vs. red pill thinking… this is believing that there is truly a world we are called to live in, and that in this world is the God who is. 

 

“As we begin to focus upon God the things of the spirit will take shape before our inner eyes. Obedience to the word of Christ will bring an inward revelation of the Godhead (John 14:21-23). It will give acute perception enabling us to see God even as is promised to the pure in heart. A new God-consciousness will seize upon us and we shall begin to taste and hear and inwardly feel the God who is our life and our all. There will be seen the constant shining of the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. (John 1:9) More and more, as our faculties grow sharper and more sure, God will become to us the great All, and His Presence the glory and wonder of our lives.”

 

 The Lord is in this place, and I know it.

 

Finding Rest in God

“Nos fecisti ad te et inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te.”

These words were spoken by the great church father, Augustine of Hippo.  As I am not versed in Latin, I’ll rely on the translation that I found:

“Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord,

and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.”

 

I have a restless heart.  It can be idolatrous and conniving.  It can be easily led astray.  Although my heart is learning what it means to rest in God alone, I am keenly aware that too often my heart is full of anxiety and worry – the opposite of peace and rest.  To my great shame, I am like Elisha’s servant when he saw the army of Syria and cried out to his master:  “What will we do?!”  My first impulse is to come up with my own rescue plan – and the pressure can be immense. 

 

Elisha, calmly and confidently saw what no one else saw – the protection and provision of the Lord.  “He (Elisha) replied (to his servant), ‘Don’t be afraid, for our side outnumbers them.’ Then Elisha prayed, ‘O Lord, open his eyes so he can see.’ The Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he saw that the hill was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. As they approached him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, ‘Strike these people with blindness.” The Lord struck them with blindness as Elisha requested.’” (II Kinds 6.15-17)

 

I want to live like this.  I want to see the protection and provision of the Lord all about me – even when it is not physically in view.  A.W. Tozer, pastor and writer wrote about the possibility that as believers we can actually do this!  He wrote:

 

“The Bible assumes as a self-evident fact that men can know God with at least the same degree of immediacy as they know any other person or thing that comes within the field of their experience. The same terms are used to express the knowledge of God as are used to express knowledge of physical things. `O taste and see that the Lord is good.’ [Ps 34.8] `All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces.’ [Ps 45.8] `My sheep hear my voice.’ [Jn 10.27] `Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.’ [Mt 5.8] These are but four of countless such passages from the Word of God. And more important than any proof text is the fact that the whole import of the Scripture is toward this belief.”    

 

Have you ever wondered if it is possible to experience God with this kind of immediacy?  Perhaps you have experienced God this way.  If so, you know the incredible impact it has on your soul when you realize that indeed God exists and He is at work all around you.  Prayer becomes more than just a monologue; it is a spiritual and conversational way of life.  Bible reading is more than just understanding words on a page; it is the God of the universe revealing Himself and His ways to you.  Silence and solitude are more than just spiritual exercises to be checked off a list; they are holy moments bathed with God’s presence.  I am not talking about new age mysticism here (although I am sure there will be those who will accuse me of that).  I am talking about a part of the Christian’s makeup that must be able to dynamically experience God.  Tozer wrote: 

 

“What can all this mean except that we have in our hearts organs by means of which we can know God as certainly as we know material things through our familiar five senses? We apprehend the physical world by exercising the faculties given us for the purpose, and we possess spiritual faculties by means of which we can know God and the spiritual world if we will obey the Spirit’s urge and begin to use them.” 

 

The Apostle Peter, writing to Christians who were living as “resident aliens” scattered throughout what was then known as Asia Minor, commends them in their faith by noticing:

 

“Though you have not seen him, you love him.

Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice

with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory”

I Peter 1.8

 

These brothers and sisters had never seen Jesus Christ.  Peter had – they hadn’t.  But they loved Him.  They believed in Him.  And they rejoiced with joy that was inexpressible and glory filled.  They had an experience of Jesus Christ that transformed them and controlled them.  I want that too.  I want to see the Sentinel Court all around me and know that those with me are greater than those against me.  I want my restless heart to truly rest in the God who made me, who loves me, and who saved me.  This blog is nothing more than one disciple’s flawed journey to find his rest in God. 

Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1918 – 2008)

Alexander Solzhenitsyn passed away on Sunday, August 3, 2008.  He was a courageous author, and a voice of moral clarity in the world, writing books like A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and The Gulag Archapelego.  These books served to unveil for the world many of the atrocities that had taken and were taking place under the repressive and oppressive communist government of the day.   In 1974, he was expelled from Russia for his writings, being labelled by many Soviets as a “traitor”. 

He was asked once about the force of his writings, to which Solzhenitsyn responded:  “The secret is that when you’ve been pitched head first into hell you just write about it.”  The world was changed because he did just that.

For an excellent tribute to the life and influence of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, check out Al Mohler’s blog.  Or, for more info, head over to Wikipedia.

Other sites with fitting tributes:

Desiring God (as only Piper can do)

Townhall.com

Tributes of Thanks

I had a chance to watch some of the Football Hall of Fame enshrinement on Saturday evening.  The Class of 2008 included Fred Dean, Darrell Green, Art Monk, Emmitt Thomas, Andre Tippett, and Gary Zimmerman.  As I watched I was struck by the fact that to a man, these great ballplayers, while physically gifted, never considered their success to be an individual accomplishment.  As a matter of fact, the three speeches I did hear were basically tributes to family, friends, and teammates who helped them to become the players they had become.  And the two words from these speeches that stick out the most in my mind are simply:  “Thank you.”

There were thank yous to coaches and owners, teachers and mentors, parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, grandchildren, cousins, fans, friends, and spouses.  Thank you after thank you went out to people who either gave them a hand up, a shoulder to stand on (maybe even to cry on), or perhaps a much needed, kick in the pants.  For the most part, these men had the necessary physical assetts, but there are many players who have great talents and never amount to much…  These men not only succeeded (I would submit that anyone who makes it to the pro level in a sport has succeeded at their trade) but became “great” (isn’t that part of the definition of a Hall of Famer?  someone who was “great” at their position?) And they did so because they had people who loved, encouraged, touched, and buoyed them when no one else would.  At the end of the day, the only fitting tribute to give to someone like that is a word that wells up from the heart… “Thank you.” 

In some small way, this blog is supposed to point people to the fame of the God who is worthy of praise.  As I listened to these speeches, I found myself thinking that my journey toward God is also really nothing short of a journey of thanks.  Some of the Hall of Famers talked of improbable odds.  I’m no Hall of Famer (in any category), but as a sinner (Rom. 3.23) and one time enemy of God (Eph. 2.3), it is only fitting for me to speak of impossible odds.  The Bible is clear that without faith, it is impossible for me to please God (Heb. 11.6).  The Bible is clear that without being radically tied into Jesus, it is impossible to have a life that produces a Jesus kind of fruit (John 15.4-8).  The Bible is clear that left to myself, it is impossible for me to chose Jesus or even seek after Him (Romans 3.10-12; Ephesians 2.1).  The Bible is clear that without the Spirit, it is impossible for me to comprehend the plan (wisdom) of God (I Cor. 2.7, 14).

That’s why I am so thankful for a God who specializes in the impossible.  The Bible is clear that with man these kinds of things are impossible, but “with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19.26).  My life was faithless but Ephesians 2.8 tells me that faith is the gift of God and I have it now.  I was like a branch severed from the life giving vine of Jesus but Colossians 3.4 tells me that now, Christ is my life.  I wasn’t even looking for God, but Ephesians 1.4 tells me that God was looking for me and chose me before the foundation of the world and now I am His.  I was blinded by Satan who was keeping me from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, but God said, “Let light shine out of darkness,’ and He has shone into my heart to give me the light of the knowledge of the glory of god in the face of Jesus Christ” (II Corinthians 4.6). 

When I let the weight of the glory of these statements press down on me, I find myself with a thesaurus of words to appeal to, but capable of using only two that really captures what my heart truly wants to say… “Thank you.”