Day #238 - While He may be Found
The Presence - A Devotional for living in Thanksgiving, Worship and Wonder
“Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”
Isaiah 55:6-7 NKJV
Have you ever felt a pressure to make a decision on a short deadline?
It can be very pressure inducing to have to make a big decision. Someone who has been a teacher and support to me in ministry, Dr. Wayde Goodall, once told me, “When I feel pushed towards something, it is usually my flesh. When I feel drawn towards something, it is usually the Lord.” We shouldn’t feel pressured to make decisions but we also can’t be passive either. Some opportunities will fade away or vanish altogether. On one extreme we have to avoid being rushed, but on the other we have to avoid what some call “analysis paralysis.” Over analyzing and delaying obedience can really be disobedience and a chance to to miss out on what God has for us.
In Isaiah 55, Isaiah is preaching to the people, “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.” Do you hear the passion in His voice? Don’t miss Your moment! When God is near, when You sense “the Presence” that is when You call upon Him and seek Him. Leonard Ravenhill once said, “the opportunity of a lifetime must be seized in the lifetime of the opportunity.”
How many times are people in worship when God’s presence manifests and there is a call to the altar but no response? How many times have I had a chance to spend time in prayer and be alone with God and I get distracted by my to do list or even worse by my phone? How many chances does God graciously give us to respond to His nearness even when we fail to respond?
The best time to seek God is now. You don’t have tomorrow guaranteed. The best time to respond, surrender and obey is now. The Lord is looking for us to fully return to Him and His desire is to show us mercy and abundantly pardon us for our sins. But we must come when we have the chance.
I have never regretted following Jesus, my only regrets are when I didn’t obey and take the opportunity to be with Him or do what He told me to do the first time. Every time His nearness is an invitation to seek Him and find Him, an opportunity to call upon Him and receive mercy. What we need is in His presence and He will keep coming, but will you respond while you have the chance?
Lord, I love Your presence. Your nearness to me is my greatest delight. Deliver me from passivity. I choose to seek You God of mercy. I call upon You when You are near. I renounce delays and distractions. I return to You. I run to You. I give you the first and the best part of me with quick obedience. In Jesus name, amen.
This scripture was brought home to me on Thursday morning, like a ton of bricks. There had been a car wreck on the road near my house, and one person's life was lost the day before. On my way to town, I saw all the chalk marks left on the pavement from the investigation. It hit me really hard that people get up everyday and do their thing, assuming they have today, tomorrow and a future. My heart breaks often for the unsaved, but this time it was more intense. That person had no idea that their life would be forfeit that day. My prayer is that the unsaved will feel that yearning that Holy Spirit places in our hearts to come to Him and respond. That we who do know Him would listen for His voice and be obedient to do what He says whether we want to or not. There is no more time to waste. The time is NOW. In total agreement with you that He would deliver us from passivity and seek Him while we still can. Renounce all the delays and distractions. There is NOTHING more important than relationship with Him. We need to look for ways to show Him to the world around us today. None of us are guaranteed tomorrow. Someone's eternal life may hinge on our decision to share Him with them.
Like Colleen, I am struck by the eloquence and timeliness of this message. Only this morning, I had two dreams about the body of Christ being distracted from prayer. The Lord is our first priority and being with Him in prayer and supplication is the most important thing we do.