"I will be with you always even to the end of the age." Matt 28:20
The promise of Christ's presence is perhaps the most important part of the Great Commission. The Greek literally says "I will be with you all the days...". It is a comforting feeling to know that every day has been numbered before Christ's coming. He knows every one on of them, he ordained each of them, and every moment of those days has a special purpose in God's plan. Whatever we are going through, if we know Christ is with us, we can approach it with confidence. But without him, everything is guaranteed to fall apart. Moses put it best when he said to the Lord: "If your presence does not go with us, do not send us out from here" (Ex 33:15). Without God, the mission is lost even before we start. How many times have we tried to make plans according to our human reasoning, or face challenges in our strength? If you're a normal believer, it's more times than you care to recount. Our default is to try our best first, and then go to God when everything fails. It's like God is a last resort. Our Heavenly Father wants to flip the script on that routine. He wants in at the very beginning, and he wants to stick it out with us to the end. He cares about every facet of our lives, and he has our best interests in mind. If we don't feel close to God at some point, we may think we need to just keep pressing on until somewhere, somehow we run into each other. It's actually the opposite. God is saying slow down, let's reconnect right here, right now. Perhaps that's why Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem before they ventured to the ends of the earth. They were called to be sent, but they needed to first learn how to wait. God's pre-requisite for all mission endeavors is a desire to know him in all his fullness. Only then are we ready.
Heavenly Father, teach me to be still and know that you alone are God.
#allthedays
The promise of Christ's presence is perhaps the most important part of the Great Commission. The Greek literally says "I will be with you all the days...". It is a comforting feeling to know that every day has been numbered before Christ's coming. He knows every one on of them, he ordained each of them, and every moment of those days has a special purpose in God's plan. Whatever we are going through, if we know Christ is with us, we can approach it with confidence. But without him, everything is guaranteed to fall apart. Moses put it best when he said to the Lord: "If your presence does not go with us, do not send us out from here" (Ex 33:15). Without God, the mission is lost even before we start. How many times have we tried to make plans according to our human reasoning, or face challenges in our strength? If you're a normal believer, it's more times than you care to recount. Our default is to try our best first, and then go to God when everything fails. It's like God is a last resort. Our Heavenly Father wants to flip the script on that routine. He wants in at the very beginning, and he wants to stick it out with us to the end. He cares about every facet of our lives, and he has our best interests in mind. If we don't feel close to God at some point, we may think we need to just keep pressing on until somewhere, somehow we run into each other. It's actually the opposite. God is saying slow down, let's reconnect right here, right now. Perhaps that's why Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem before they ventured to the ends of the earth. They were called to be sent, but they needed to first learn how to wait. God's pre-requisite for all mission endeavors is a desire to know him in all his fullness. Only then are we ready.
Heavenly Father, teach me to be still and know that you alone are God.
#allthedays