The Struggling Believer of Jesus
He reached out his hand.
Apparently, it was for his phone.
He needed to turn that second alarm off.
Still, he didn’t want to be up.
It simply sounded so much better to sleep on while he can.
Unfortunately, the third alarm soon came.
It was time to report to work.
And once again, he wasn’t able to talk well enough to his Lord.
How often do we find ourselves relating to this man?
This busy world seems to have prepared for us an effective distraction each time.
And it’s so effective that we often find it a struggle to give time for prayer.
Fortunately, there is yet hope.
4 Lessons To Remember When You Are Spiritually Lost
In this short reflection, I’m seeking to unpack four (4) lessons that I’ve learned from my times of “lostness.”
The lessons here seem to be simple if you really think about it.
But, a person who is totally lost will find anything simple helpful.
So let’s dive in and see what these 4 lessons would like to have us realize.
1. A Quiet Time Is An Opportunity To Talk To God
There will be times in which you would find yourself alone. Don’t feel too lonely. These moments are opportunities in which you can talk to God. Perhaps, it is even God who arranges such circumstances to come into your life.
It quite amazes me that whenever I get too relaxed about being just able to thrive and survive in this life, a problem suddenly finds its way to boggle my brain.
Just then, I’d remember that I have not been praying very well.
When I pray a little, I do not feel completely blessed by this special transaction of communion with God. Either it was too hurried, or it was just trivial.
Soon I would find myself in a place, time, and circumstance where I literally feel down because once again, I’ve been entrapped.
The good thing is that God could have arranged that circumstance to allow me to feel empty enough to seek Him sincerely again.
This is not to say that the depression, which resulted from my wrong choices, was part of God’s ideal.
Rather, God makes an amazing move on the chessboard of my life, leading me from depression to seeking a quiet time.
And from that quiet time, to a place of communion with Him.
2. You Don’t Have To Be Entertained To Feel Good
Sometimes we would resort to entertainment just to fill up the emptiness that sin brings into our lives.
This will never be the best practice, though.
Most that we see in entertaining media is detrimental to our spiritual health.
True, we could be blessed by seeing some random video on the shortness of life and then be led to realize that we needed to come to God.
However, after a short while of scrolling down again for some more feed, that pure spiritual thought would just too easily fly away.
Again, we’d find ourselves being distracted from the One who could truly make us feel good.
You see, the more we entrap ourselves into the webs of distraction in the world wide web, the more we would sink deeper into depression, into feelings of sadness and emptiness, and into a sense of being lost.
Literally, you can get lost in being lost because, in a way, you tend to forget that you were waning in your spiritual walk and were just in need of God.
You need to realize that you ran into a trap rather than to a door to freedom. You need to run to Jesus.
3. A Whisper Shows How Gentlemanly God Is
Do you ever wonder why God wouldn’t just pull you out from a pit without you having to ask Him?
If He knew you’d be thankful, you’d argue that He should have done it without you having to pray to be delivered.
Why did you need to call upon God to release you from a trap and ask Him to cleanse you from your sin?
Why does He have to be asked and be the best gentleman at that?
Well, remember that there is what we call “The Great Controversy.” It simply means that God is a fair player in this match.
While the adversary is a cheater and would like to entice you without making you think whether you really would like to act out that sin or not, God is never like that.
God does not control our minds without our consent; but if we desire to know and to do His will, His promises are ours.
The Desire of Ages, p. 258, par. 5
God gives you time, freedom, and a free will to ask.
And not just ask trivially, but sincerely, so you yourself would know if that thing is what you really want.
God is love, so He won’t force anything.
He would only whisper hints and suggestions to let you choose freely and ask Him if you really wanted His help.
This is also why while you can simply be chilling out because everything seems to be okay with you, you still need to talk regularly enough to your Lord.
Any time soon, you will find yourself too lax. Consequently, you will be lax enough not to notice a temptation coming.
The cycle goes on as you find yourself soon sinning, soon depressed, and soon there again. In your condition of lostness.
At that point, God remains faithful and begins His redeeming work with a gentle whisper to your ears.
God is that kind of a gentleman. He respects your choice.
4. You Don’t Have To Do So Much
Perhaps, that man first described above has just been very busy.
Yes, he may have been busy with important and good things, too.
Take note, however, that good things can often be the very best distractions.
Take note that while good things are acceptable, such as working as hard as one can, or doing great in one’s ministry, it is not supposed to overtake the first and best, that is, God.
In fact…
Religion is the best place to hide from God.
David Asscherick
God is number one and remains to be the priority.
If you have been struggling to fit God into your 24-hour day, then you might be doing so much, even too much.
This makes your relationship with God quite unhealthy because you are crowding Him into your already filled-up schedule.
God should have been “scheduled” first.
To experience God to the full is to make Him our first priority.
When You Can Be Found By A God Who Finds
Thankfully, God is the God who finds.
He finds us when we’re lost.
He makes the first move when we can’t make any initiative.
Although, again, He doesn’t force.
He whispers.
He bids.
He invites.
God works to redeem us when we are lost, and even when we are lost about being lost.
Now I understand what the title means..:-)