When God doesn't feel "Very Present"

I’ve was up all night praying for a family member that didn’t have the strength to pray for himself yet the threat of his mind slipping away loomed large. I’m aware for many that the short answer is call 911 and let’s get those meds flowing as soon as possible and at one point in the past this family member opted for the meds but they heightened the suicidal tendencies and psychosis. This post is not about whether a person should or should not take meds or if they do or don’t help, it’s about God being found by us in our time of trouble.

I’m physically and spiritually drained after praying all night from lack of sleep but I trust God to refresh and restore me. In addition to being up all night praying for my family members (the one mentioned and another that is recovering from a coma) I thought I would walk out of the doctor’s office swinging my arms; you know how you swing them when you don’t feel pain…well no swinging of the arms for me. Immediately after the injection I was told in about twelve hours to expect worse pain for the next three days and use it as little as possible. Ice it three times a day. Got it, doc. Well, twelve hours is for someone else because it didn’t take that long to realize that I had been injected, I knew it and my shoulder knew it. LOL. Through it all I realize that God is drawing me closer to him, how about you? God is so good to us. Don’t you agree?

For the last few days I’ve been turning Psalms 46:1 over and over in my spirit.
To the chief Musician for the **sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

It is God being a very present help in trouble that is my saving grace today. Interestingly enough “present” denotes us finding him in our time of need and him bringing a reward when he is found. In times of trouble we pray with fervency especially when it seems we have no other way out of our situation. We find him, we attain to him and I particularly like the simple or base form of the verb that says we get (the thing sought).

Imagine being in trouble, praying and seeking God knowing you’re going to find him and not only will you find him he will have a reward for you when you connect with him. You’ll get the thing sought for. I’m not suggesting that the reward will be what you want but I am suggesting it will be what He wants and what he knows will bring his desired result—he’s a very present help in our time of trouble. ‘Very present help’ also denotes to learn, to detect or to come upon, to be encountered, to be discovered. Discovered? Wait a minute, is it possible that during our time of truth there is a discovery to be made that changes and shifts our situation or at least our perception of the situation?

Figuratively, one of its meanings is to cause to come. I like how the writer of Psalms 46:1 said God “is”, present tense. God is our refuge or shelter from rain, storm or danger. A refuge is a place you flee to for protection,  this is an indication that there is action needed on our part for God to be our refuge and to be our present help. What is that action; seeking to find him in our time of trouble. I know this is not exciting the kind of thing that makes you leap for joy but when we begin to understand that our troubles are strategically designed to make us seek AND find God we understand that he is exactly what the writer said ---our shelter.

Many may not like to admit it, though we love God most of the prayers and study that goes forth would not exist if it weren’t for the push that life provides in giving us equal opportunity for times of trouble. I know that you know no one is exempt from troubles but I thought I’d take this opportunity to restate the obvious as its noted in:.

1 Peter 5:9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

Whether in the world or in the faith you will endure afflictions BUT the God of all grace has a reward for those in the faith after they seek for and find him. Funny thing is, he wants to be found so he’s not really hidden.

Have you called forth your morning (Psalms 30:5B)? Have you wrapped your mind around the God-truth that your troubles are a catalyst to get you positioned for God’s purpose for your life. Knowing that there is a reason for your troubles doesn’t make them hurt any less, but I can’t help thinking back on Psalms 46:1 which implies that we do the seeking, we do the finding and when we find God or discover him, he has a reward for us. Question is will we recognize the reward for what it is? Why should we have to seek for God in our time of trouble if he is a very present help? Why doesn’t he just appear on the scene of our daily issues and rescue us. If we are honest, our relationship with him would not have the same degree of intimacy that we enjoy today if we had a trouble free life, would it?

There’s always a next time to look forward to with joy, this helps us understand how Jesus faced Calvary with joy –he understood the reward that awaited him. Like the Apostle Paul we must press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. It’s not always easy and sometimes it doesn't even feel like God is present at all. The Psalmist understood something that is beneficial for us to learn and that is that God is present but we have to seek and find him. True, it doesn’t always feel good but on the other side of THIS is the shelter of God which is a reward within itself. Just another Tiney Thought~

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**For the sake of getting background on the sons of Korah, visit http://www.searchgodsword.org/enc/isb/view.cgi?number=T5365.