Transforming Moments with God

Transforming Moments with God

90 Devotions to Strengthen Your Relationship with God

By Frank King

All Scriptures taken from the King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted

1. God Visits Us

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained; What is man, that you are mindful of him? and the son of man that you visit him? (Psalm 8:3-4)

Think about some of the most famous people in the world whom you admire. What do you think would happen if you were to call one of them—that’s if you could get a valid phone number—and request a meeting? Most likely, though you may have bought all of the person’s CDs, or gone to all of his professional games, or gone to see all of her movies, your request would not be granted. Such a person is just too big and famous to see about little you.

On the other hand, we can talk to God whenever we want to. Lest there be any misunderstanding, I am talking about the omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent God of all creations, the Potentate and Judge of all the earth. By His wisdom He makes all things good, and His ways are past finding out. Why would such an awesome God visit us and pay any attention to us when we pray? The proclamation very clearly stated in the psalmist’s question is that God does visit us through prayer.

This dichotomy—that is, that the Creator of the universe communes with mortal men—can be intimidating. To some, it is unthinkable to expect the God of the heavens to hear them and to respond to their petitions. Hence, they go through a religious exercise of prayer, not expecting anything to ensue, which guarantees them that nothing will.

Prayer was not our idea but God’s. He has not presented it as an option but a mandate for His people. Clearly, He wants to commune with us. At least three facts reside in this truth. One, God highly values our relationship with Him. Two, He is interested in what we have to say. Thirdly, prayer ushers us into His presence.

We cannot fathom the depth of God’s desire to fellowship with us. How it must displease Him when we fail to spend time with Him. His throne is in heaven, a distance too far from earth to measure. Through prayer, however, He personally visits us—every time we want it to be so, and as long as we want Him to. And this was His idea, not ours.

Meditational thought: God can’t resist a good prayer meeting

Personal reflection:

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Prayer:

Dear God in Heaven. Thank You for the awesome gift of prayer. When I consider the works of Your hands, who am I that You are here with me? I stand in awe of Your presence. I know that You hear my prayers …. Amen.

2. Trusting God

Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about” (Genesis 22:2, NIV)

God’s ways seldom appeal to logic. Sometimes He calls us to a hard thing with little details. So it was that He called old man Abraham to go to an unspecified location to offer up as a burnt offering his only son Isaac. This means Isaac would be consumed by fire.

How could God the Creator of life require a man to sacrifice his only son to Him by fire? There is but one way for a person to obey such a calling with peace. It’s called trust. If what we plan to do for God must make sense before we proceed, we will accomplish little for Him. Those who have been called to do great works for the Lord and have answered that call have testimonies that challenge conventional wisdom. God does not operate in the safe zone. He seldom calls us to do what’s comfortable. This was true of Him in days of old. It is still true today—even in these uncertain times.

Trust is a necessity of life. Every day, millions travel bridges spanning wide rivers such that if the bridge failed it would be fatal. Travelers trust the authorities’ assessment that such bridges are safe to cross, and so they do. Most of the many travelers who board airplanes have no idea of how they work, but they frequent them trusting that they will arrive safely to their destinations. Patients trust their physicians to put them to sleep and remove portions of their body, expecting to be better when it’s all over.

Our trust in God should surpass our trust in all of these.

A vast contrast is noted. We can see the bridge, and we know people who safely cross it daily. The similar is true about flying on planes and people submitting to surgeons. But God is invisible. His primary way of speaking to us is not through an audible voice but through the Bible. Plus, it is possible that the area in which we are being called to trust Him is a place we have never been before.

To have any stability in our relationship with God we must learn to trust Him. That does not require us to completely understand His instructions or commandments. On the contrary, trust is required because many times what God is asking us to do won’t make any sense to us.

Meditational thought: Trust trumps understanding

Personal reflection:

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Prayer:

Dear Lord, I want to grow in my relationship with You so I can trust Your Word and obey Your voice, no matter what the charge. Please forgive me for those times during which I failed to trust You. Help me to trust You more…Amen.