Windows of Light

Relationship with God is necessary to life. By necessary, I mean that without a relationship with God, we are broken individuals who are running in circles trying fill a hole in our hearts and vainly searching for meaning that can only be found in God. This doesn’t mean that when we seek after God, our troubles are over and everything becomes crystal clear. Rather it means that we are opening ourselves up for the direct and furious attack of Satan. I’ve seen this just recently. The more I’ve been seeking God and truly focusing on Him, discovering who He is, the more intense and severe the attacks of Satan have become. It’s like he knows he’s losing hold and is doing everything in his power to keep that from happening. In a way, being attacked ferociously by Satan should excite us. It means that we are that much closer to God and what is true, than we are to Satan and what is false. The world will look at us and call us crazy, but God tells us in James 1 to “2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.” Satan tries to deceive us when we’re going through these trials and put thoughts in our heads such as “this is too hard” or “I’ll never be good enough.” Those are lies though! Look at Philippians 4:12-13 “12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” How did Paul know how to be content? Because he trusted God in every difficult and prosperous time. And notice that he didn’t say he could only do the little or easy things. No, rather he said that he could do anything with God’s help. Our God can do ANYTHING. You have only to believe. Truly believe. Not halfheartedly, not 60% / 40%. 110%!!! When you don't wholeheartedly believe that He will do what He has said He will do, then you limit what He can do in your life. So why don’t you step back, quit trying to control the situation, and watch what God does. We also don’t deserve His mercy and grace, yet He sent His son to die for us. How do we thank Him? We often offer thanks by trying to prove that we’re “good enough.” We are never going to be “good enough” for it says in Romans that “22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:22-24) None of us are worthy to escape God’s wrath. So quit trying to be “good enough” by reading Bible three times a day, or mumbling a prayer before bed, or working with the poor etc. Rather do those things as a response to what God has done for you. Do them to show your love and devotion to, and desire for, the One who gave you a life and a purpose.

One final note is that, having a relationship with God requires constant work, as many already know. But look at your relationship this way for a moment... Imagine that your life, in connection to your relationship with God, is like a window. What shines through this window is what the world sees. When you lose focus on God, and what He has done and is doing in your life, you become a dirty window and darkness begins to cover the light that was shining through. The less you focus on God, the dirtier your window becomes, and the less God’s light can shine through into the lives of those around you. Then God brings a storm into your life to bring your focus back to Him and to wash clean your dirty window, allowing light to once more to spill out into the dark paths of others. What if we were to spend time daily with God, listening to Him, and asking Him to reveal Himself to us? Imagine how much more of God’s light would be able to shine through our windows, into the dark world we live, in if we did that?