To Be or Not To Be--Squirrely

My missionary friend was stumped. A lady who had come to their church off and on cornered her when no services or people were around. She asked my friend, "Who comes to the church?"

My friend thought a bit, then started naming people she thought the lady might know. The lady's blank look helped the missionary "get it." The woman didn't want a blow-by-blow account of the people who attended the church. She wanted to know if any high society people attended. Needless to say, she never came back.

Well.

It's easy to criticize that lady but maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't hurt to use her squirrely query as a reminder to pray like David, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23-24).

I'm sure the high-society seeker had no clue her desires were "off." That was simply the status quo for the circles in which she ran. New to the Lord, she hadn't yet read where Paul wrote that in Christ divisions by race, ethnicity, social status, and gender do not exist; in Christ we are all one (Galatians 3:25-29).

That poor lady was allowing her presuppositions to define her. She didn't realize that the status quo she thought normal was alien to the heart of God. And in so doing she was effectively limiting her growth in her new walk in Christ.

It's so easy to see where she went wrong, but what about ourselves? It's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback; it's a lot harder to be in the thick of the fray making critical split second decisions. How can we avoid such pitfalls? How can we be sure our past, the way we were raised, is not blinding us to God's best for us? I'm so glad you asked.

Moses once cried out to God, "Show me your way." And the Lord answered, "My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest" (Exodus 33:14).

In other words, decisions that give us heart-felt peace are the prescribed path of God. That is where the cords of our past and upbringing will fall away, freeing us to see and follow God's way. But how can we find that mystical presence of God? Where can we find that liberating life-directing peace?

Psalm 22:3 says He dwells in the praises of His people. Praise, then is one way to enter His presence. Psalm 26:8 says His presence is in His tabernacle (church). So another way to find His presence and peace is to hang out with Him where He likes to chill—ye olde church. Then we have Psalm 119:145-152, a passage inferring that God's presence can be felt when we meditate on His Word.

So there you have it, folks—ways in which to submerse ourselves in God's presence, a presence that will help us supersede the restrictions of our past and know without a shadow of a doubt the way in which we should go. Delving into God's Word, spending time in His house, and praising Him, are all ways to enter into His presence, to get to know Him, to understand His desires so that we not only will we not be bound by prior suppositions, but when we find ourselves in a tizzy about what to do we won't fall into a nervous frenzy. Instead, our spirit will zero in on what we have learned at His side and we will calmly make a wise decision, a decision reflecting His values, His longings, His heart, His will for our lives.

As we seek His face, may God deliver us one and all from squirrelly actions derived from preconceived ideas we were brought up with, inbred ideologies that not only divide but take us away from His best for us.

"Search me O God, and know my heart: try me and know my thoughts" (Psalm 139:23).

"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity" (Jeremiah 29:13-14).