~ written by Connie Dunmyer
"I tried running ahead of my problems… but they signed up for the same marathon!"
"I’m not saying I’m slow, but even my shadow gets bored waiting for me to catch up."
Do you ever feel like you’re “out of step” with God? I know I do. Sometimes I feel like I’m running ahead and just waiting for God to open doors. Other times, I find myself picking up rocks, jumping into puddles, following a frog, taking a myriad of pictures, or just daydreaming as I watch clouds roll by. And so I wonder if God gets impatient with me.
To be clear – these are my FEELINGS. And while feelings are not right or wrong – they just “are” – I need to be careful about allowing them to run my life. This is why I turn to God’s Word so often. I need a constant reminder of who and where God really is as I tread forward.
Deuteronomy 9:3: “BUT be assured today that the Lord your GOD is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the Lord has promised you.”
BUT GOD – GOES AHEAD OF ME (LIKE A DEVOURING FIRE)
I know this “But God” is a little separated. However, I think it still applies as a “But God” moment because we can simply structure the sentence differently – such as: “But God is the one who goes ahead of you. You can be assured of that.”
My life is complicated these days. So much is happening in my personal life, in my family’s lives, in my friends’ lives, in my mind, and all around me. BUT GOD has already gone ahead. He has already crossed the raging river. Like a devouring fire, He has destroyed my enemies and subdued them. He has made it possible for me to drive them out and utterly annihilate them – quickly, no less. He has promised it. He has done it. I need only walk in the faith of that knowledge.
So I haven’t gotten out of step. God knows right where I am, and He has gone ahead of me on ALL of life’s complications.
So what happens when I cannot SEE Him working?
2 Corinthians 4:18: “We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
So I need to fix my eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.
Oh how I wish I could see what God sees.
2 Kings 6:15-17 15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. 16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
So maybe if I, like Elisha’s servant, would simply “not be afraid” – perhaps my own eyes would be opened so that I could see the "horses and chariots of fire" all around me, devouring my enemies. Perhaps I, too, can see the unseen.
And if God has gone before me, then my enemies have already been defeated. My circumstances, my struggle, my weariness, my confusion – all defeated. Consumed, in fact. And so all that remains is the very hand of God itself. Only my good and His glory. My blinded eyes may not yet see – but He will someday open all of our eyes to see all these things.
“. . . as the Lord has promised you.” We can be assured of that.
