alone – Messianic Moment

Ever find yourself just sitting, staring at nothing? That’s where I am right now…listening for an idea and all I hear are crickets chirping in my head.

Maybe I shouldn’t write anything; after all, just because I don’t have a word from God doesn’t mean I have to force something, right? I mean, I know He’s there, I know He has blessed this blog and that so long as what I write is justified and qualified by what is in the Bible, I will continue to reach people who need to know that God is God, His word is true, His Torah is still valid and applicable to everyone, and Yeshua (Jesus) is still the Messiah promised in the Old Covenant writings.

So what do I write about? Maybe I just found my topic- God is always there, even when we don’t hear from Him.

I remember that poem (I think just about everyone knows it) about the guy walking on the beach with God, and there are two sets of footprints, but as the man goes through tsouris and tribulations there is only one set of footprints. Later, there are two sets again, so the man asks God where He was when the man needed Him and was walking alone. God answers that the one set of footprints belonged not to the man, but to God- and God was carrying the man during those troubled times.

We need to maintain faith, which isn’t too hard when you are in the midst of the blessings. In fact, you get absolutely no “bragging rights” for being faithful in the midst of blessings. It’s when those blessings are absent, when we are walking in the desert and we see no oasis, no rocks gushing water, no birds flying to us and landing on the ground that we need to maintain our faith. It’s when we are surrounded by snakes and scorpions that we need to be faithful, and remember that just because we don’t see God in our life it doesn’t mean He isn’t there. He is always there, waiting in the wings. Maybe He is waiting for us to return from wandering off on our own, trying to do something in our own strength instead of His; maybe He is testing our resolve, our faith, or maybe He is just letting us walk a little on our own.

Maybe we will never know (that’s probably the most accurate answer) because what God does we can’t always understand. I read once that a God who can be understood by the mind of Man is not worthy of the worship of Man. I couldn’t agree more, and those people who dare to say they know what God is all about are the ones you need to leave alone.

Yes, there are times when we realize that God is doing something in our life, and we should appreciate and always be on the lookout for those times, but to understand God? To know His mind? I don’t think so.

This is why I really get a kick out of God! Here, I start out thinking I have nothing to write about, so I start to walk (or write, as the case may be) in faith, humbly admitting my lack of ability this morning, and God just steps in and gives me something to say that glorifies Him.

God is always there, just like the sun: it’s always there but we can’t always see it. Sometimes there are clouds blocking it (humanity and the world), sometimes it’s because at night the sun is out of our sight and sometimes we just stubbornly have our eyes closed.

But the sun is always there, just as the Son is always there, just as the Father is always there. Just because you don’t see Him doesn’t mean He is gone.

There will be times when we won’t see God in our lives, and when you feel that way remember what Yeshua told us: if we seek , we will find, so seek the Lord by doing those things He tells us we should do and you will find Him.

He’s always there.

Obviously… you say nothing.

You provide a presence that is caring, compassionate, and silent. Think of when you are in God’s presence- do you hear a lot of noise? Maybe there is worship music in the background, maybe there is someone singing, or maybe (as I find it most effective) you are under your Tallit, wrapped around your head as if in a cocoon of worship, and all the background noise is just a whisper to you as you feel God’s warmth, His love, His overwhelming joy being absorbed into your very soul.

There is no way any of us can give that wonderful, totally peaceful experience, but we can take a hint from the Lord and be that quiet presence that soothes and helps. When someone is in pain, either physically or emotionally, people think they should say something. We watch too much TV and too many movies, where someone says something that is a vitally pointed remark, one that empowers and helps the poor wretch to come back to reality, or see the truth; commercial break , and then back to the show where now everyone is happy.

That’s all make-believe! There are many people reviewing the words used, creating the emotional situation, as well as the circumstances- it is all staged, all planned, all fake! TV and movies are not real life.

In real life we have to deal with the idiots who hurt others and don’t care- no amount of talking will make them see the light, and on TV after the commercial it is years later while in real life it is just the very next second- nothing has changed, and we have to continue to suffer with these dolts and bullies just as before we said anything. And the people who we try to help still hurt. Sometimes they never get over it, sometimes they never want to get over it, and more often than not nothing we do will make a difference.

And you can’t change the channel, either!

So what do you do? You stay silent. Yeshua tells us not to throw pearls before swine and not to continue to kick against the goads. I think we owe it to people to try to help with our experience and understanding, but not to nag and not to feel upset or chided when they refuse to listen. Everyone has free will, and if God can teach us anything about treating others, it is to allow them to make their own choices and respect their right to do so enough where we aren’t pridefully insulted if they don’t do what we think is best.

I write email responses that I usually delete because I have learned (and believe me- it took a long time and a lot of chewing out’s before I finally got the message) that when I am not sure what to say, I should say nothing. And also that when I know exactly what I want to say, it is usually best if I still say nothing.

The most powerful feeling and experience I have ever had is when I am quietly in the presence of God. I cannot give that feeling to anyone because, well, I’m not God. Duh!! But I can “be there” for someone, I can gently hold their hand, put my arm around them, or just sit, quietly, next to them without saying or doing anything other than being there. They will feel my presence, and they will be able to find some small comfort in that.

That’s the best we can do, and more often than not, I think it’s all we should do.

Nothing else to say.

Tag: alone

I’m Drawing a Blank Here

What to Say When You Have Nothing to Say