Always

This past week I took an intercession course entitled, “Adoption Issues & Answers”

It was three days, all day long.

What I loved about this class was, though it was 10 hours long each day, the teacher mixed it up by bringing in some really incredible speakers, discussing all aspects of adoption.

One speaker entered the room and captured my attention for the entire 2 hours that she shared her story. She is a mom of 5, and only one of her children actually came from her womb, the other 4 she would say, “Came from her heart”

What caught me off guard though, was when she would discuss her adoption process, she would say “God really provided here.” Or “If it wasn’t for God, I don’t know where we would be.”

She would begin so many stories with God that I would get a little cynical and frustrated.

I don’t know if I am jaded by people discussing God’s work in their life, or what…but I have to confess that  to me, I have always believed people who spoke of God in this way were just trying to pitch something, they used this God word to justify the good things in their life and to whomever they were talking to it became a barrier because there life was not going as well.

I know this is strange, coming from a believer, and someone who claims to follow Jesus, but I fail often in giving credit to God, or expressing his power in my life, because I feel that I will come across as cheesy, and I will end up segregating myself from those who need Jesus, just as much as I do.

But

as I listened to this woman’s story, I kept seeing this God that was real…not this God that we thank for the starbucks line being short, or this God we thank when our favorite song on the radio is being played

But it was this God who was with her when she was fighting to adopt a child, or this God who there when they took one of her foster children away.

She spoke of a God who was not just in her head, but was in her heart.

And the cool thing about this God in hearts, is that he tends to act more than the God who is just in our heads.

I think the sad thing about a God who is only in our head, is that He tends to stay there and in the inanimate objects we put him in. Books, buildings…blogs.

And so we settle for a God who just was, and not a God who IS.

We preach of what God did, and neglect what he is doing.

And the problem with this, is that we leave him in heaven and not with us.

The stone is rolled, and the king has abandoned us.

And that is how we choose to live.

But that is not what Jesus leaves us with…in fact he doesn’t even leave us.

The last sentence in the book of Matthew says,

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

With

You

Always

I am with you when you think I am not

I am with you when you have finished yet another television series

I am with you when you have looked at that 20th facebook album

I am with you when you hurt

I am with you when you laugh

I am with you when you obey

I am with you when you don’t

I am with you when you have no idea what to do next

I am with you when you think you have it all figured out

I am with you in the dark

I am with you

I am with you

Always.

And if God is with us

Then I need him to move

I need God to move from my head to my heart

And if he moves to my heart, then he demands that I act,

And if my actions demand a response, then I will give them Jesus.

You see, I think the church stopped growing, I stopped growing…when I quit talking about what Jesus not only did 2000 years ago, but what he is doing right now.

Because people need more than a God who just died 2000 years ago, they need a God who rose from the dead and is with them now.

Your stories about what God is doing, will contain the power to change lives.

And they have to be your stories and no one else’s

Because people want to know a God who is real to you, and not just one you advertise for someone else.

The good news is better than programs and buildings.

The good news is that God is with you

Always.