Preserved for Purpose Part 4
Preserved for Purpose • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Finding Purpose in the Present Presence
Finding Purpose in the Present Presence
“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;
The implication of this verse is that we do not wait until eternity to seek God. But instead, we see that eternally seeking God starts in our present.
How many of you have been to Chuck E. Cheeses or a similar gaming place? Did you know this is technically gambling only with a state license of exception? How many find yourself spending money to play games and earn tickets or credits to exchange from some cheap prize? (Epstein, Benjamin; Living in the Presence)
So many Christians practice their faith in the same manner. They want a Christianity that entertains their flesh why at the same time doing just enough to earn enough credits to win a prize of life eternal by way of a cheapened grace.
In essence, we are all hoping to ultimately experience the presence of God as a reward in the life to come, rather than live in His presence in the life that we now live.
A.W. Tozer states, “One marked difference between the faith of our fathers as conceived by the fathers and the same faith as understood and lived by their children is that the fathers were concerned with the root of the matter, while their present-day-descendents seem concerned only with the fruit” (Tozer, A.W.; The Root of the Righteous).
If this life is simply a precursor to the life to come, what real meaning is there in the situations and circumstances presented us in the present? What is my real purpose for existence?
In this question, most Christians struggle to reconcile the purpose of their present existence with God’s purpose for their eternal future. In fact, this leads to many false and preconceived eschatologies. As Christians, we have come to believe that the only gift from God is a future eternality as a purpose to come. As a result, we fail to see the present as a gift from God with an eternal purpose. We fail to see God’s presence or purpose in our present.
I have found that the only way to truly discover and embrace the perfect peace of God is to grow to a mature place of fully trusting Him with every moment that happens in this lifetime. Think about the times in your life that you did not have peace. Those are typically times in your frustration, disappointment, discouragement, anger, fear, and the list goes on. They are all times of your fleshly response to trials, conflicts, difficulties, struggles, and the list continues.
What if you learned to face each and every one of those moments with a completely different way of thinking and a totally transformed perception of those moments?
I recently faced such a situation. My parents could not get a strong enough WiFi signal from my internet within their camper. The solution was to install a WiFi extender bringing the signal closer to them for better reception. The plan was to run an Ethernet cable through an existing hole of my wall behind the television where the cable company had run coax. So, I tried to do just that and found it much more difficult than anticipated, as are most things I do!
As I made attempts, I tripped a breaker. I assumed it was a bad breaker because it would not stay on. So, I replaced it. Still would not work. I called an electrician. He looked at it and said something in those walls is arching and causing it to trip. I had to take every face plate off of every outlet and switch in the den and on the deck to try and find the cause. And I found nothing. So, I dug deeper into the wall. What I discovered was that an electrical wire for two outlets had been run through that wall’s studs. The internet company had drilled through hitting the wire and leaving it exposed. To add to this, a nail had been driven through the wire just missing the hot copper wires. When I disturbed it with the Ethernet cable and internet cable, it blew the breaker. As well, both breakers had been tied together causing one to shut off but leaving the other still hot.
Now during this, my response was one of much frustration and anxiety. We all struggle to see God in our present situations and circumstances. The truth of my situation is, that unknown to me, I had a perfect storm of an electrical problem just waiting, that could have burned my entire house down.
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
According to Benjamin Epstein, there is a Hebrew phrase for “peace of mind”. It is yishuv hada’at יִשּׁוּב הַדַּעַת which literally means “settling of the mind”.
In Scripture, David is a great example. David was a young boy in a family, where like Joseph, his brothers despised him. While David’s brother attended to seemingly more important tasks, David tended the sheep. During this time in the fields, David sought God, became skilled with a sling shot, and played musical instruments. But he was a fierce shepherd who killed lions and bears to protect his father’s sheep. This is a good shepherd. It begs the question, which did he risk his life for, his great love for the sheep or his greater love for his father? I believe it was for his greater love for the Father above. One day David is anointed by the Prophet Samuel. Later he becomes king of Israel.
But David had some very trying times and challenges in his life. We find throughout the Psalms, that David fought his flesh and soul to keep their present focus on the presence of God in every circumstance and situation.
David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us. How then can we say to him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.” But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.” Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate. Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”
Let’s look at another time David faced such a situation.
Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.”
In both instances, we see David’s response was to worship God. Though he was greatly grieved or greatly distressed, his response was to “seek God in the present moment while he may be found.” If we could learn to live each moment, regardless of the circumstances, and seek God in the present, we would live with greater peace of mind.
Our typical way of thinking is to ask God to remove from us our trials or life’s difficulties that we might find peace. Our perspective is that we are at peace when all is right in our present world. We want God to detach us from our circumstances and situations. Or, we detach God from them. Either way, we struggle to find God’s purpose in the present and live that way daily.
As a result, we fail to see that true dveykut דבקות (connection with God) is not something to experience in the future but in our every present moments regardless of what they seem to be. This word also carries the meaning of “clinging to God”. Do you cling to God in the tough times as well as the good ones? This one also carries the meaning “dedication”. How dedicated is your relationship and devotion to the Lord? Do circumstances and emotions dictate your theology (the knowledge of the nature and truth of God and His relationship to you)?
God wants to be the God of your every present not just the God of your eternal future. This is what is meant when the Scriptures says:
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
I must point out that Yeshua would have not used the Greek reference “Alpha and Omega”. He would have said, “I am the Aleph and the Tav”. This is a reference to the first and last letters of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet which speaks of the beginning and the fullness of God’s eternal plan of relationship and covenant with you and I. More importantly, it speaks of the ‘et (את) which points or connects all things to the Father.
Therefore, Yeshua is our connection to the Father.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus is saying, “No one can dveykut or connect to the Father, except through Him who lived in the presence of the Father from all beginnings, who lived in the presence of the Father in the present, and who will live in the presence of the Father for all eternity.
It is only by learning to resolve that every moment contains the presence of the Lord. Ours is to recognize the presence of the Lord in each moment of our lives. When we do, like the Christ, we can find Father’s purpose regardless of the circumstances. Look at Jesus’ response to Pilate:
Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”
You might say, “I want this peace of mind. But how do I apply it to my life in Christ?” The word mitzvah מִצְוָה means “commandments”.
In John 14:15 Jesus said,
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And in John 15:10 He says,
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
There is a dveykut (connection) with God that is found in mitzvah (the keeping of His commandments). In Hebrew this connection to God, through obedience to His commandments, is called Tzavta V'chibur צוותא וכיור ("cleaving and attachment").
It is unfortunate that most of us are attached to our phones, ourselves, our own emotions, our past, our memories and so many other things, more than we are attached to God’s presence in our every present. As a result, we cannot see His purpose in our present.
When we learn to see God’s presence, in our every present, we will discover His kavanah כַּוָּנָה (intent, motive and purpose) in life’s every moment. Here is where we learn to find that God is ever present in our avodah עֲבוֹדָה (work, worship, and service) as well as in our present need and time of trouble.
Do you want to live with peace of mind every day regardless of what life throws your way? Embrace the way, the truth and the life and discover His purpose in your present through His presence.
