Last year a friend wanted to bless me with a trip to the Bahamas in October. Ummm…Yes please! I couldn’t wait. I was weary. Tired. In need of a refreshing vacation, and a week on a beach with my Bible, my journal and a boost of Vitamin Sea was just what the doctor ordered.
We had reservations. There was a seat on a plane with my name on it and I couldn’t wait to sit in it to fly off to paradise.
And then……Hurricane Matthew decided to make an appearance the day before we were scheduled to leave, and we had to cancel our trip. We didn’t keep our reservations.
There’s a private place reserved for the lovers of God where they sit near Him and receive revelation – secrets of His promises. (Psalm 25:14 passion)
I love the way the Passion Translation phrases this verse. If we’re a lover of God, we have a reservation in a private place with God and He shares His heart with us. His promises. His secrets. A place reserved just for us. It has our name on it and He’s waiting for us to keep it.
How many times do we let the hurricane of busyness and the chaos of life cancel our reservations? Or our tiredness? Do we just not “feel” like it? Maybe there’s a coldness in our hearts in different seasons of life that keeps us from that private meeting.
I get it. Some mornings we wake up with such an expectancy of Him where He’s wooing us out of bed, “Come talk with Me. I can’t wait to see you.” Those days it’s easy to keep our reservation.
And then there are mornings we’re just not feelin’ it. Where all we want to do is roll over and go back to sleep. We don’t feel anything special so we skip it. And then skip it again. And then skip it again until we’ve skipped it so much we forget what it’s like, that place next to Him where He pours into us, sharing His secrets with us. Refreshing us and giving us hope and strength.
It’s those days we need to stir ourselves us. We need to remember we walk by faith and not by sight. Not by feeling. He’s there when we feel it and He’s just as present when we don’t.
For my determined purpose is that I may know Him, that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly. (Philippians 3:10 ampc)
Paul wrote the book of Philippians from a jail cell towards the end of his life. And my thought was, “Didn’t he already know Him?” He walked with Him and worked with Him for decades. He had to be close to Him, right?
I’m sure he was, but he wasn’t satisfied. He wanted more. It was his goal in life. His purpose wasn’t just taking missionary trips all over the world. It wasn’t performing miracles or praying for revival or telling people about Jesus.
All of those things are good and right and godly. But they should never take the place of Him. They should flow out of our ultimate purpose of knowing Him.
At the end of Paul’s life, he craved more and more of Him. He wanted to know Jesus more than he already did, to become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him and the wonders of His person.
Know matter how well we know Him…how long we’ve walked with Him…there’s so much more.
Don’t you just crave more?
It’s as easy as keeping our reservation in that private place with Him. All day, every day, being aware of who lives within and connecting with Him whether we feel anything or not.
Are you keeping your reservation?
Lord, reveal Yourself to us today. Draw us closer to Your heart. Reveal Your secrets and promises to our heart. Give us a deeper revelation of how amazing You are and help us to perceive Your presence with us all day long. Amen…