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Last week we covered that each of us has a deep calling to our souls whether we know it or not. And that this is simply a longing for a place to call home. But our souls long for something that we cannot receive as we live on this earth for the desire is the perfect home in heaven where nothing separates us from the Lord’s presence and loving embrace.
Accepting the call to come home is only the first step in the process and what comes afterwards is the next step. C.S. Lewis in his book “Mere Christianity” said that we cannot go back in time to fix what is wrong but we can start where we are and begin to go in the right way again. That is part of coming home. Our next step is to keep moving towards a closer relationship with our Father in heaven.
Christians have used the analogy of walking with Christ and as we’ve become detached from the original culture a detail has been forgotten or at the very least gone unnoticed. The terrain in which Christ walked as he went along the roads of Israel going from one village or town to the next.
It had deserts and lush plains for sheep to be herded together on. Rivers in the valleys and hills to climb up. It is not a stroll as some might think of when they hear the word walking. Rather, it can best be compared to a hike that requires you to pack some essentials to make it to the end destination.
In Boy Scouts, I went on several hikes covering several different terrains and distances. You will get tired, you will get thirsty, and you will have times when you need to take breaks. But you cannot let yourself stop until you arrive at the destination. Paul has, on three different occasions (1st Corinthians 9:24, Galatians 2:2, Galatians 5:7), described the life of faith as a race we all partake in. The author of Hebrews uses this same analogy as well (Hebrews 12:1). The life of a Christian is about staying with Christ in the hard times of life that are part of the journey to home.
We will come to places where our relationship with God seems to have run dry. A time period of silence and all we have is what He told us in the past. It might be a while before we receive any new instructions. Some Christians will say that the silence is because we’ve done something wrong and lost His favor. But this is not necessarily correct. Silence is a test to see if how we will act when we are working in what feels like a dead zone.
I have heard the Holy Spirit telling me to come home and to come after Him. To pursue with more earnestness what has been laid before me and hold fast to the promises He’s given me. And they’ve been made in those moments of silence when I don’t hear much from Him or don’t hear from Him often.
There will be parts of our spirit that get filled up with the things of life. This will prevent us from having the springs of living water that we are promised by Jesus in John chapter 4. These springs must at times be re-dug and restored. These moments of dryness are the times when reading our Bible and praying doesn’t feel like it used to in the times when we almost always felt the manifest presence of God.
Emotions are things we are warned against having dominance in our life of faith for they can and will run in opposition to it. We fight their attempt at control by choosing to remind ourselves of scriptural truth. Matthew 18:20 and 1st John 5:14-15 must never be allowed to lose their dominance in our lives because their message reminds us that God is there when we pray even when it isn’t felt.
When truth replaces feelings in these times of uncertainty or when things feel less powerful the wellsprings are being dug up again. The things of this world that so quickly try to take the place of dominance and block out God’s influence will need us to make an effort to keep the pathways of God’s truth clear. Silence tests our willingness to stay true. Plants survive droughts because their roots are deep enough to get water even when the surface is dried and no rain has come for a time.
You must continue to pursue God and allow His spirit to reign within you. You must seek out hearing His voice and be open to Him. If you are ever uncertain about who is speaking to you, test the spirit by comparing what is being said to what’s written in scripture(1st John 4 verses 1-6). The true voice of God will never say anything that contradicts Himself. And do not forget that we have been given the power by the authority of Jesus Christ to command a silence of the deceiving spirits in the name of Jesus. But we must continue to have this prayer because some spirits will only be silenced through our prayer and fasting which draws us closer to God and gaining full strength to do this.
As you go through things to build up your trust in Him do not be discouraged for there are many promises of God being with those who obey Him. We are so much like Paul when he wrote to the church in Philippi.
“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Philippians chapter 3 verse 12
So press on and keep pursuing Christ as you make your journey home.