Humanity’s insight and wisdom about life is deafening.
Medicine and technology are advanced.
Information and knowledge is freely available on the internet.
We can do everything for ourselves.
There is no more room for God!
We are so focused on the world around us that we no longer notice God, and we no longer think about Him and His word. Everything around us has become so important that there is no place for God in or around us. This is idolatry.
Baasha, the king of Israel, attacked Judah and strengthened Ramah to prevent Asa, the king of Judah, from going out or entering. Asa then sent gold and silver to Ben-hadad, the king of Aram, to help them out. He said: ‘let there be a treaty between me and you, I give you gold and silver and you break your agreement with Israel and attack the Israelite cities’. Baesa stopped everything when he heard his cities were being attacked and returned to Israel.
Hanani the prophet came to Asa, and said: You will never overcome Ben-Hadad and all his army, because you trusted in Aram and not in the LORD your God. Lubim and Ethiopia were great and besieged Judah, but the LORD gave them to you because you trusted in Him. The eyes of the LORD roam throughout the whole earth to powerfully assist those whose hearts are wholly His. In this you acted foolishly. Asa lost his temper and imprisoned Hanani the prophet. From then on, Asa mistreated some of the population.
A disease of the foot struck Asa and despite this serious disease, he chose to seek treatment from the doctors rather than from the LORD. He died three years later.
(Summary from 2 Chronicles 16:1-14)
Do you trust in the Lord?
The LORD’s eyes travel over the whole earth to powerfully assist those whose hearts are wholly His (2 Chronicles 16:9).
A Psalm of David.
Aleph. Do not be angry with evildoers, do not envy them who do wrong;
for like grass they will soon wither, and like green sprouts of grass they will wither.
Bet. Trust in the LORD, and do what is good; inhabit the earth and practice faithfulness,
and delight yourself in the LORD; then He will give you the desires of your heart.
Gimel. Commit your way to the LORD and trust in Him, and He will carry it out;
and He will make your righteousness come forth like the light and your justice like the noonday sun.
(Psalms 37:1-6)
We must come to a place where our hearts, our being, are wholly His. We must focus on Him, He who is the beginning and end of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). We must become intimate with Him, share everything with Him (Philippians 4:6), the good, the bad and the ugly (that which sometimes cannot even be put into words). This is where we grow in our trust and intimacy with Him.
To be intimate is to be detailed, inner, close, familiar and personal. In our walk with God we must become intimate with Him. It is not possible to just have intimacy, it takes time and effort, but it grows deeper and deeper as we learn to make Him part of everything. When intimacy is true and real, it becomes worship and this worship and intimacy towards Him only becomes more and more. Your walk with God teaches you that you need Him more than anything else.
We need God and then oxygen, in that particular order (Luana Bekker).
Oswald Chambers explains it this way:
It is possible to know everything about doctrine and not know Jesus. The soul is in danger when knowledge of doctrine surpasses intimate contact with Jesus. Why did Mary weep at Jesus’ tomb? Doctrine was nothing more to Maria than the grass under her feet. Mary “saw Jesus standing and did not know that it was Jesus…”; but when she heard the voice, she knew who the One who spoke was. “Master!” she responded…
Peter denied Jesus Christ with oaths and curses, and yet Jesus appeared to Peter alone after the Resurrection. He restored him in private, then He restored him in front of the others. “Lord, You know that I love You.” he responded… (My Utmost for His Highest. August 16. Copyright © 1935).
We are totally and utterly depended on God and the sooner we realise this the better…
…God designed the human machine to run on God Himself.
(Mere Christianity. P.50 2002 Ed. Copyright © 1942).