The butterflies in the stomach, the warm fuzzies just being around each other, the fireworks, and then the honeymoon is over. Sound familiar? Sadly to say many of us experience this with our relationship with God. It is not just when we first come to Him. We all have gone to a retreat/revival and get those feelings all over again praying that they will last this time. Only to find out when we get back into the daily grind of life once again they flee.
In the book of Judges, we see the cycle Israel keeps going through. Over and over again, God would save them for a short time they would worship and follow after God. Then in a short time, they would forget what God had done, look around at the other nations, soon due to their wandering away from God He would allow those nations to take Israel into captivity or battle. Israel would cry out for help and God would deliver them. Only to start the cycle all over again.
They are not the only ones with this problem. It affects most of us today. We come to the Lord and all is hunky dory, nothing could take us off of this cloud nine feeling we have now that we have Jesus living with us, UNTIL life hits. We start looking at what is going on in this world. Start skipping out on our quiet time with the Lord, a couple of times which soon turn into weeks. We come into a trial feeling God has abandoned us at this time and call on Him to come riding in like a knight in shining armor on a white horse to save us.
The only problem is our view of things. We see it as though God has left us. When in reality we are the one not making the time to spend with Him. Like Jeremiah 2, we see in Revelation 2:2-4; it is us that walk away from our First Love, God. It isn’t the other way around.
‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
We may have the appearance of doing godly things. That is not what He wants. It is the personal relationship of spending time alone with Him in the Bible, prayer, and worship that He seeks and we need. Make the time to spend with Him.
(Photo by Everton Vila on Unsplash)
Bonnie Sue Writes 