Let’s read this great verse again:
“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,”
Php 2:12 NIV
In His absence. There are times when we do not sense the Presence of God, for several different reasons. One could be that we are being tested, and like any good teacher, He will not give us the answers during the test, but hopes we will lean on what He has taught us, as well as all the gifts He has granted us, so that we will pass. Another reason could be that we have some kind of active sin in our lives and are not seeking Him, so it feels like He is not with us. One more example, may be that we are being so distracted with this world that His Voice, and so His Presence, diminishes to the point where we do not sense Him. We can drown Him out…remember God’s Voice is a still and small one because He does NOT have to compete with this world or anything else!
So it seems much simpler to follow Jesus when we sense His Presence. It is much more challenging to follow when we do not recognize Him personally encouraging, guiding, and moving us one way or the other. But even in situations like I described before, we can choose to trust He is still with us because…He IS still with us. Any sense that He is not can be quickly rectified by simply remembering that He will never leave us nor forsake us, so we can turn, and return, to Him at any given moment, trusting Him in whatever situation we find ourselves in. Even when we do not sense His Presence, He is with us. Praise God!
Join me in memorizing 52 verses this year:
January: 1- Jn 3:16; 2- 2Co 5:17; 3- Jas 2:26; 4- Eph 2:10
February: 5- Jn 10:10; 6- Ro 6:23; 7- Rev 21:4; 8- Php 4:13
March: 9- 1Pe 5:7; 10- Jn 8:32; 11- Dt 30:19; 12- Jn 3:30; 13- 2Chron 20:3
April: 14- 2Chron 20:12; 15- 2Chron 20:15b; 16- 2Chron 20:17; 17- Ro 8:28
18- 1Co 13:13
19- Php 2:12
<>< Peace, Diane
