How Did I Get Here?

Focal Verses: "From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD" (Genesis 13:3-4)

How did I get here? No, I'm not talking about how I felt last week when our airline mistakenly sent us to Chicago when we were headed to Orlando. I'm actually talking about how, one day, I can feel like God and I are walking joyfully side by side, and then another day, I realize he isn't as close as I remembered him being.

As disturbing as this can be, I'm afraid it's quite common. It is in my own life, anyway. It can happen for a number of reasons. The most obvious one is sin. If we're walking closely with God, allowing sin - unconfessed - in our lives, most definitely will create a space between us and our fellowship with God.

Another culprit in separating us from the closeness of God is not spending time with him. We can allow the busyness of life get in the way of our precious time with him, and the next thing we know, we aren't enjoying that intimacy with him that we did. Of course, that in itself can lead to our weakness to resist sin.

When we have one of those "How did I get here" moments, we have an excellent example in Scripture how we can get back to that closeness with God. Right after God called Abram (Abraham) and Abram set out to Canaan as God commanded, he built an altar between Bethel and Ai and called on the name of the Lord.

Then the Scripture says that Abram went to Egypt because there was a famine. Abram, because he was afraid, lied to Pharaoh and the Egyptians and said Sarai was his sister so as to protect himself. Of course it is easy to wonder what happened to Abram's great faith that we see only a few verses before. (But like Abram, we can - and do - trip up just as easily.) Shortly after, God intervened and Abram was sent away from Egypt. I'm sure Abram's faith was shaken, so what did he do? Look back at our focal verses for today. He went back to the last place he experienced the Lord, the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier.

Before I get to the point here, I want to point out the same lesson from another patriarch, Abraham's grandson Jacob. After Jacob fled from Esau, God appeared to him in a dream at Bethel, where he restated his promise to build a nation through him. (Genesis 28) In the course of time, Jacob married Leah and Rachel and had his children, and God told Jacob to go back to Canaan. During this trip, his daughter Dinah was raped, and his sons Levi and Simeon avenged her rape by killing every male in the city. After such tragedy and violence, you have to know that Jacob was questioning God's decision to use his family line. Yet God is faithful even when our circumstances seem uncontrollable. Genesis 35:1 says, "Then God said to Jacob, 'Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.'"

In both of these cases, you can see that the place we need to go when we feel estranged from God is to the place where we last encountered him.

Maybe it wasn't too long ago for you. Just a matter of days. What changed in that short time? Did sin creep in? Did you let other things crowd out your time with God?

Maybe it has been years. Maybe it was at a church camp in youth group or a small-group Bible study in college. What was different in your life then than now? Were you seeking God wholeheartedly then and now you are keeping a few corners of your heart just to yourself?

Maybe it has been since your surrendered your life to Christ and have yet to launch your exciting relationship with your Savior. I would encourage you, if this is the case, to get involved in a small group or seek out a trusted Christian mentor, where you can be discipled.

Or maybe you have no idea what it's like to be "close" to God. If this is the case, perhaps you have never come to the point in your life where you realize your need for Jesus and ask him to forgive you of your sins. Maybe you have never fully committed your life to him. I'm afraid many in our churches and even in our society believe everything we're supposed to believe, but never make a personal commitment to Christ. Romans 10:9-10 says, "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." If this describes you, please don't hesitate to seek out someone who can help you in your decision to commit to Christ. Feel free to even email me.

The bottom line is that God made us for a relationship with him. A living, walking, active relationship with him. And when we find ourselves out of close fellowship with him, the first thing we need to do is go back to the last time we encountered Him.