Drawn to God through abandonment

Clients frequently declare to me that no one on earth can understand them. People seem dense and disappointing. Well, yes, sometimes people can be pretty disappointing.

We need to come to terms with the fact that our friends inability to support us may be allowed by God for a good reason. Mature Christians can tell you that anything that pretends to support us, actually detracts us from seeking our support in Creator God. Be it money or power or position or looks or relationships, or intelligence or education - any of these things and more often become our crutch by which we determine not just our value and worth but the value and worth of others as well.

I do not believe for one minute that the stories of Job or Abraham / Isaac are isolated incidents. When we are suffering and no one seems to understand, it's entirely possible that it is God who has closed up the understanding of our friends, as He did with Job’s friends. satan declares to God that you and I do not love God for Himself, but only for His blessings. Or, as atheists seem compelled to do, they say that we love God only because we are afraid of hell.

Now, when everything and everyone that can be used for shelter and friendship and sympathy have been completely stripped from our lives, we see that God has once again come to work in our lives. This is no accident or coincidence. Again, mature Christians can tell you that times like this bring the deepest awareness of God’s presence. The deepest awareness of God's presence brings the deepest sense of peace and joy and contentment.

Because the focus of most Christians is similar to that of the secular world, most will ever experience in this intimacy with their Creator. For those whose focus is on becoming like Jesus (Romans 8:29), for those whose focus is the same as that of God's, this journey is profound. It’s staggering. It’s awesome.

One day you may be blessed by tragedy. And with Job you will be able to say, “I have lost my family, my wealth, my friends, the trust that I’d put in my creed - I have lost everything to which a man can look to for comfort; yet, though He slay me, I will trust in Him.”