Our need, His provision

I absolutely love the tiniest of words that seem to join ideas together. Take the word "but" for a moment and you might just find this tiny word actually negates or puts a condition into play. For example, when you say 'I wanted a taco, but I ate a salad', you are putting the condition into play of choosing the healthiest of the two options. The tiny word "and" joins two idea together. There is much to be explored when "and" is put into play in a sentence, for it often joins two things that are required in order to make something whole. For example, when you join 'peanut butter and jelly', you get a mighty enjoyable sandwich! When you join 'black and blue' in describing a recent bruise, you are letting others know of the severity of damage done when you struck yourself against that hard object. When God tells us we must believe that he exists AND that he cares enough to respond to us when we seek him, he is describing two very coexistent conditions which must be evident in our lives. One just doesn't exist without the other.

By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. “They looked all over and couldn’t find him because God had taken him.” We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken “he pleased God.” It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.  (Hebrews 11:6 MSG)

If we want to have a relationship with God, we must believe two things - that he exists and that he cares for us. How futile it would be to just imagine someone exists and then not ever believe they will respond to us when we seek them out. If a child is separated from his parents for even a while, he would seek them out because he believes they exist. He somehow knows that even though he cannot see them, they are still there somewhere - so he makes his intention to be rejoined to them known by crying out from his crib. There is a deep trust, even though the object of his seeking remains unseen. In the seeking, he hopes to discover they are still near and want to relate to him as much as he wants to relate to them. When the parent returns to the crib in response to the crying child, the parent is affirming his trust.

God isn't going to respond to our seeking with any less concern or care. He exist AND because he exists, we can be assured he loves us enough to care for us in a deeply loving manner. We only seek what we believe exists. I have on more than one occasion put something away 'so carefully', only to discover I cannot find it when I want it! Yet, I believe it still exists - so I seek even harder to discover that spot I so cleverly placed it in! I believe - therefore I seek. The same is true in relationship with Jesus - I believe he exists AND therefore I seek. In my seeking, I believe he will be found AND he will respond to my seeking heart in a way that tells me my seeking has not been in vain.

Seek AND find. Come AND eat. Knock AND it shall be opened. Confess AND be forgiven. Surrender AND be made new. There are a lot of ways AND is bringing together our need with is provision, aren't there? Just sayin!

But you....

Whom have I in heaven but You? I want nothing more on earth, but You. My body and my heart may grow weak, but God is the strength of my heart and all I need forever. (Psalm 73:25-26 NLV) We could ask ourselves this question daily and if we were really, really honest with ourselves and others, we might just admit we have a whole lot of things and people who get in the way of our closeness in relationship with God! We have all manner of media to distract us. We engage in all manner of 'hobby' to fill our downtime. We masterfully add events and meetings into our schedules until we realize we haven't left any time for even a bio-break! The more we ask if we really have the right focus, the more we may discover we don't.

We cannot be afraid of asking, though, for it is oftentimes the point of discovery that sets in motion the change we really need in order to 'right' that focus once again. I know I speak for myself on this one - the more I find myself 'empty' - the more I find my relationship with Jesus has had some 'interrupters'. It isn't that I fall out of relationship with him, but our time together is more superficial instead of deeply meaningful. Our time is rushed and our moments grow less frequent. Have you ever found yourself there? You only need to keep in mind the heart of our psalmist to understand what God is after  ---  that God is our strength, all we need, and nothing makes our heart grow weaker than to be out of that close relationship with him for any length of time.

My mother is 100 and she has lived a long, long life. Her heart is still 'strong' in the sense that she doesn't take a lot of medications to support it, but it is growing weaker by the day. You will notice her slowing her pace, taking more and more time to accomplish even the smallest of tasks, and requiring lots more breaks in between those tasks to 'recover'. Her heart has lost some of the strength it used to possess. A weak heart needs rest - when we see our 'hearts' growing weak, it isn't more we need to pile in as much as it may be less we need to be doing so we have time to recover!

We all need time well spent in times of spiritual rest in order to recover our spirit, regenerate our heart, and bolster our soul. We do well to ask if Jesus is really the strength we seek, or is he something we try to 'pile in' at some point in our day that we just know we need, but don't really give a top priority. We do well to evaluate if he is all we need, or do we live with a Jesus AND.... kind of focus. If it is the Jesus AND.... kind of focus we have had, we might just need to come back to the place we let go of that which has been making our heart weak! Just sayin!