“Lift up your heads oh you ancient doors and let the King of glory come in…!” And this is the word of the Psalmist encouraging us to allow the Lord to come in and take charge of our lives. This is similar to the words of Jesus himself as he says; “I stand at the door and knock, and whoever opens the door, I will enter.” This tells us that Jesus does not come into our hearts, homes or lives uninvited. We are responsible for inviting Him and opening the door for him to come in. Why then do we feel that the Lord is absent?
The Lord is ever present, the challenge or sad reality is that we only desire or look out for the presence of the Lord when we are in need or when we are desperate. When everything is rosy and in order, many persons often forget God or attribute their success to their ability or expertise. We often are tempted to show pride or self-actualization. We forget that the same activities we have engaged in and succeeded were carried out by others who achieved a very different result. We fail to see the hand of the supernatural in our dealings. We do not recognize that the Lord is with us.
The Lord is always near us, in good and bad times. He is interested in everything that concerns us and is ready to abide with us. Like a father who is interested in the affairs of his Child, the Lord is very much interest in our minute details. Like every good child who understands that s/he needs to be guided and guarded by the father, we are expected to desire this fatherly coverage. Unfortunately, many of us become too big for God and do not find the need to carry him along on our every journey in life.
In other situations, because we choose to engage in activities we know the Lord would frown at, we avoid his presence and like Adam, we hide. Nevertheless, the Lord is always by our side; patiently waiting for us to open the ancient doors of our hearts and our life. So God calls out to us often, where are you? God wants us to open up the pride and self-aggrandizement that foolishly imprisons us, before it is too late.
Another point to note is that the presence of God does not necessarily mean the absence of troubles. Or should I say, it may not guarantee that one would have a bed of roses. Our choice to follow God and accept the Lord into our lives come with interesting challenges and temptations. These challenges are either forms of discouragement or a test of our faithfulness. You must remember the story of Job and the story of Tobit in the bible. These faithful men encountered strange difficulties. In fact, even Jesus encountered difficulties and experienced his trails and moments of weakness. As a popular quote I heard once; God did not call us to be successful, He called us to be faithful! By human standards, would you consider Jesus to be successful considering how he died? At the cross, Jesus felt forsaken… even though the Lord is always present!
Beloved in Christ, the Lord is here always! In fact, his name is Emmanuel, meaning: God with us! It is important that we have this firm believe that the Lord is with us at all times. In good times and bad times, in sickness and in health, in moments of weakness or strength, what is required of us is to stand with the Lord at all times. God is faithful and he has called us to be faithful till the end and our reward would be great. The reward which the world promises is always short-lived. The rewards from God echoes through eternity. Shalom!
Speechlesswaters