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by Frank DeZurik

Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place,
No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.
In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.”
- Psalm 91:9-16

Today was our monthly men’s meeting. Part of our time at the very end was centered around, “Why is it that there’s this sense or feeling we’ve lost our passion?” Of course, I had to speak up.

“We can’t blame God or anyone else for this loss of passion except ourselves. You see, if individually, each of us, in our vertical relationship isn’t there or is almost non-existent, to have a horizontal relationship with each other can be confusing and literally, impossible.”

Seeing questioning looks in the room, in essence saying, “What are you talking about?” excited me to share more.

You see, in today’s life of all the business with our schedules just so full, we don’t take time to read God’s Word, let alone pray and talk with Him. Basically, we seek Him when a crisis hits. We pray when it’s convenient for us.

All along, we spew out our know-it-all attitudes, and then when the ceiling falls in on us, the finger-pointing begins. The “He said, she said” verbiage begins.

We’re confused and don’t know what to do because we have not stayed in control with the One who has the answers for us. Also, most of the time we don’t like His answers because they’re so unrealistic, so simple, or they’re not in line with our thinking.

We can’t show up for a one-hour time frame or less per week and walk out the front door of God’s house thinking and/or saying, “Well, I’ve done my duty for the week. You know this Christian thinking, it’s not so hard.” Think about that for a moment, in this light – just because I go and sit in my garage overnight doesn’t make me a car by morning.

We need to remember that sin brings pain to us and to God. Just because God isn’t physically right here, we have a hard time believing He’s experiencing pain. In Judges 10:15, Israel knew they had sinned, they let God know, and asked to be delivered from the day in whatever way God would choose. In Judges 10:16, it tells us that God’s soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel.

Does God hurt? Does God feel pain? You bet! And not just heart pain, it went to the depths of His soul.

The misery we suffer because of spiritual rebellion will always cause pain to the Lord. Isaiah 63:9 says, “In all their affliction, He was afflicted.”

The greatest pain God suffered was when His Son went to the Cross for our sins.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.
- Isaiah 43:2

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