Is God real to you? Are you conscious of living in His presence? Is He, like the Psalmist describes Him in Psalm 46:1, “…a very present help in time of trouble?”
If there is one thing that we find true of those who have known, and walked with the Lord, it is this…God is a reality to them. Indeed, such a God-centered life “tastes and sees that the Lord is good.” God ever speaks to the heart and reveals Himself to the soul who trusts Him.
There is an old hymn which declares:
“Open my eyes that I may see
Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me;
Place in my hands the wonderful key,
That shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for Thee,
Ready, my God, Thy will to see;
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit Divine.”
(“Open My Eyes, That I May See” by Clara H. Fiske Scott, 1841-1897)
These are the words of someone for whom God is a reality. The hymn writer lives with the realization that God is God, and God alone can do God’s work. Hence, Lord, open my eyes that I may truly see. Only God can do this!!! He alone can give truth to the heart and mind. He alone can truly illumine us, give us understanding of that which is spiritually true, an eternal reality.
When the Lord showed Habakkuk that judgement was coming upon Israel because of the sin and lawlessness of the day, so clearly seen in the abject rejection of God and His ways, he turns to the Lord with this prayer:
“I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.” (2:1) Here is a man who is very troubled by all that he sees in the nation. He is confused, and cannot understand all that is happening, and yet, he knows that impending doom is coming. But he is a man of prayer, a man for whom “God IS a very present help, “ who speaks, who reveals himself to the heart. Here is a man who is living in the certain reality of God’s willingness to speak to him, and reveal to him what he needs to know. To such a man, with such a heart, the Lord says, “Write the vision, and make it plain upon the tables, that he may run that breadth it…the vision…will surely come…the just shall live by his faith.” It is remarkable that the Lord will speak so clearly, and declare to Habakkuk that the message that he is to give to the people is to be “plain upon the tables.” Not only is the Lord a God of truth and light, but He is a God of clarity, of conciseness. Habakkuk knew exactly what He said, and what the message was to be. Habakkuk was a man who listened. He was a man who was open to be corrected, to be educated in the things of God. For he will declare that he will hear what the Lord tells him, and “what I shall answer when I am reproved.” I wonder how many of us are truly teachable? Are we among those who ask the Lord, “Teach me?”
Finally, the apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2:12, “…Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might KNOW the things that are freely given to us of God.” Do we believe this? Is this a reality? Do we live in the expectancy to receive? Is our whole hope in Christ? You see, God is real, and true, or He is not. There is no middle ground. One believes or one does not.
May He give us grace to hear, and to hear clearly. And may He give us hearts to receive, to learn, even to be corrected. But mostly, may He, by His Spirit, unveil to us the realities of the wonders of Christ, that His great purposes, His eternal purposes, should be accomplished in and through us.
Have a wonderful day…waiting for Him, believing Him…
Amen