Abba's Dearly Beloved

I will never leave you; never will I forsake you.

Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)

Connecting to the internet can be a source of acute frustration when broadband or data coverage is either intermittent or non-existent. You are trying to reel off that last email on your commute home from work or facetiming your friend overseas when your internet connection is disrupted and in some cases your sanity is too! Diagnosing the problem can be helpful and lead us to the cause such as no data coverage or weak Wi-Fi connection but sometimes we are stumped as to why this mildly inconvenient at best or a severe upset at worst has occurred. In a similar way, are you feeling like your connection with God has been temporarily interrupted or weakened? Perhaps you have chosen to unplug from God altogether? Life can throw all sorts of things at us that can make us question what God is doing or whether he is still connected with us. Yet God always has room in his heart for us and promises never to leave us, even when we are running the opposite way. Whether you might be feeling like a burnt out Elijah who fled exhausted to the desert and told God in so many words that he had had enough (1 Kings 19:1-10) or like David who felt like he was walking through one valley after another whilst on the run from Saul (Psalms 23; 63), the reservoir of God’s love towards you testified to by the inner voice of love of His Spirit within, has not nor will ever dry up. As 1 John 4:8-10 sums up, “God is Love” and His love never fails for he is the very definition of love in all its perfection. It is at the core of who he is. Tangibly this looks like the perfect version of what Paul reveals love to be in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)

This love is ever-present in your situation whether you feel its warmth or not. Love in fact is a person, Jesus, who promised you and me that He would never abandon us as orphans but would come and be present with us (John 14:18). In perhaps the most famous of all the Psalms, Psalm 23, David pens his experience of God’s intimate hand closely walking with him through the valley he was traversing through. As David testified in worship through this Psalm, God in the midst of trouble will also lead us by His Spirit, if we let him, to the still waters (v2) of his presence where he revives our hope and restores our souls (v3). There he also comforts us with the rod and staff, the symbols of his authority and loving shepherding hand of security (v4). Today, meditate on Psalm 23 and as you reflect on these truths, ask the Holy Spirit for moments in your day where you are reminded of God’s ever-present help and unfailing love and enter into his presence.

God longs to connect with you and in the quiet waters of his presence he waits for you to come. Do not remain hidden in shame or disqualification if that is what you are battling, Jesus has settled both at the cross. Are you weary from striving and fighting on your own thinking God has long given up on you or refused to help you? Jesus invites you as he did to those he preached to weighed down with many kinds of burdens to come to him, as the exact representation of God the Father. Our reward is to encounter the gentle humility of our saviour as the one who stoops to wash our feet and leads us in righteous robes he gives us to our loving Father God. So come to him and receive refreshing and reviving of your soul at those still waters of intimate communion with him. You will behold once again the God who never leaves your side and whose everlasting arms still enfold you and carry you close to his heart, whatever the valley you may be walking through (Isaiah 40:11). When the valley is traversed, you will notice as you reflect back that God was there through it all and never left your side.

Prayer: Father God, thank you for loving me and never abandoning my side, even through trials, hardships and times when I feel disconnected and far off from you. Forgive me for when I have doubted that you are close or your care for me. Thank you that you promise to not only walk with us through these times in the valley but to revive us in places of stillness in your presence and to carry us with never failing, everlasting arms. Help me through the challenges I currently face Lord for I want to face them with you. Give me all that I need to get me through the other side and may my life be a testimony of your unfailing love and faithfulness seen in the valleys as well as on the mountain tops. In Jesus name, Amen.

Declaration:

I choose to believe the truth that my Heavenly Father’s love for me never decreases and He promises never to abandon my side no matter what I’m dealing with right now. His faithful love, grace and strong hand will support me and lead me through in victory.