Going Deep

Tonight we are going deep.  Eject now if you want to get off of this ride.

Lately I've been feeling a little complacent slash bored slash tired slash lazy slash doubtful slash uncertain in the spiritual side of things.  Don't panic.  I'm just putting it out there.  Yes, things are good. Yes, there are some things that need to be worked on.  I find that I go through waves or seasons in my walk.  Some times you may catch me and I am on fire, other times I can be like a wet sponge.  And then all of the in between.  Before I went on my wild west adventure, my friend Sherri gave me some books written by some wizards and I was supposed to read them on my trip.  Well, that did not quite happen.  But, I read one last night- Better late than never.  The book is a 50 page treasure.  I'm going to have to memorize it.  I'm going to lay it down for you (in my own words).  Keep in mind- this may not apply to you or interest you in the least, but it doesn't hurt to hear it....

Obviously we all have times or seasons where God's presence is really tangible.  We see Him, hear Him, know Him and feel Him in supernatural ways.  Smart people call this manifestation.  It's a time of blessing.  I love this time.  It's way easier than the next one.   Then we have those times where it seems that he's hidden.  Or that he's not there.  When this happens I automatically assume it's me.  I've done something wrong or I don't know how to see Him or hear Him.  Then it's just a downward spiral.  You kind of feel like you are on your own.  That's when I go into "walk it off mode" and hope for the best...  Smart people like to call this hiddenness.  It's actually not all bad my friends. It's supposedly a time of building.  Here is where the smart people blew my mind.  During hiddenness (not my favorite time period), God is still there.  He teaches us by hiding himself.  It teaches us to live differently.  We can't rely solely on experience.  We have to go to a deeper level.  The visible is removed so that we can operate by faith, not sight.  It teaches us to trust.  It also teaches us to rely on the Lord.

This is is the part I don't like.  Because I'm not so good at trusting.  I'm also not up to par on relying solely on the Lord.  To me it's like a trust grab bag.  There are so many things that I give to the Lord and trust completely, but then there's a few pieces that I can't seem to let go of and feel like I have to do it on my own.  I'm just not sure how to go about it.  And then you throw in the whole relying thing and this Ole ship is sinking.  How do we get to that place of trusting fully and relying solely on the Lord??  (Let me know)

Here is another cool thing.  How many times do we go through an event or bad experience and not until we are on the other side do we realize God was there?  This is called Retrospective Revelation.  That's all fine and dandy, but I want to live in option 2.  Progressive Revelation.  Trusting that He is with us, visible or not.  Wouldn't that be cool?  They also say that before we even come close to opening our minds or processing an event, we should come to a place of worship.  (Yes please)  This is a place of being in God's presence.  Trust and Faith.  Until we learn to live from the Spirit, we are stuck processing life from the soul, mind, emotions and will.  Oh snap.

Last night, I was overwhelmed reading this tiny little midget of a book.  So much good stuff in such a tiny book.  I felt so dumb, because I always assume God's not near when I feel the hiddenness.  It's so cool to think that He is.  Not only is He there, but he's teaching us through it.  I mean, I'm totally game for that.

It's just something to think about.  The book is called Hiddenness and Manifestation by Graham Cooke.  I would go ahead and get that sucker.  Memorize it, love it, live it.  Boom.

Stay classy.