Are You Truly Walking with God?

Posted on Jul 02, 2020 Topic : Inspirational/Devotional, Men's Christian Living, Women's Christian Living

Back before seat belts, you could always tell when a couple was happy. Happy couples sat cuddled up together on the driver’s side of the car. But when couples weren’t happy, one person would be on the passenger’s side, close to the door, and the other on the driver’s side.

As the story goes, one day a husband and wife were driving, and the wife looked over to her husband and said, “We used to sit so close together.”

To which the husband replied, “Well, I haven’t moved.”

If it feels like God is distant, He isn’t the one who has moved. It simply means you have moved away from Him.

In Exodus 32, Israel made choices which moved them further away from God. Following their miraculous deliverance from slavery, they built a golden calf to worship. This occurred after God said not to create any idols (Exodus 20:4-5), even if the idol is made with Him in mind.

Yet the Israelites grew frustrated when their leader, Moses, took too long to come back from spending time with God on the mountain. They felt alone. They felt their vulnerability immensely and sought to create something they could touch, see, and have with them at all times.

When God saw what they’d done, He was furious the Israelites had so hastily removed themselves from Him by committing this terrible sin. Thus, in Exodus 33:3 God told Moses, “Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, and I might destroy you on the way.”

That’s an interesting statement. He told His people to go to the place of blessing, but He would not go with them. The land flowing with milk and honey was their dream, their goal. Evidently it is possible to be physically blessed, yet not have God with you.

Having a blessing does not reveal where someone stands with God in their personal relationship with Him. This principle is laid out for us in Matthew 5:45, which states, “He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

Too often, people look to the blessing as a validation of God’s presence. But when we examine the lives of those in Scripture who were closest to God, we find tribulation, difficulties, and troubles. Being blessed is a wonderful thing, but it is not necessarily an indicator of a person’s intimacy with the Lord. Remember, even Satan offered to bless Jesus (Luke 4:5-6). Unfortunately, it is far too easy to assume closeness based on tangible goods alone, which can lead to a level of apathy that stalls the pursuit of God in a believer’s life.

God is not a piece of data. Knowing Him isn’t akin to knowing how to play a game or manipulate something for your own good. Knowing God is an intense experience that plumbs the very depths of being. It’s not about receiving spiritual serendipities or throwing out theological truths that sound good or make you seem like you know Him. Knowing God means sharing a personal relationship with Him.