Sick!
Have you ever had this feeling in the pit of your stomach that you can’t explain? Maybe as a kid, you realized that because you just made a bad choice your parents have decided to cancel something they had planned for you. You have this sick feeling in the pit of your stomach realizing that you just missed out on the most amazing thing. Maybe you’re like me when I got out to my car from a store and realized my daughter wasn’t with me. She was young, maybe 6 or 7, at the time and it was the scariest feeling. Talk about a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.
My daughter
It was around Christmas time. Our family was in a store in the mall browsing. We didn’t find what we needed so we headed out to our vehicle. When we got there we realized our daughter was not with us. After losing a daughter that we only had with us for 5 weeks, I was in a panic. I did not want to lose another daughter. We went into the store and talked to the workers and we all started on a search. I don’t remember how much time passed but it seemed like forever. Finally, one of the workers found her hiding in some clothes.
It turns out she had been skipping the squares on the floor and had not turned with us toward the doors. When she realized she was alone she tried to go out one door and realized it was the wrong one so she came back into the store and hid in the clothes. It was a very happy reunion. I remember how frustrated I would get when we would go anywhere after that. She was so afraid of being left behind she would hang on to my clothing. It was hard for me to even walk through a store because she stayed so close to me. I would say she did that for the next couple of years at least. It was a very frightening experience for her. I can imagine the sick feeling she must have had in the pit of her stomach.
The worst sick feeling
So what is the worst sick feeling that a person could ever have in the pit of their stomach? I have given much thought to this more than once. It makes me cringe to think about it. We can so often go through life and not really realize the seriousness of it. But if you really take the time to give it some thought it can be awakening.
When I think about the worst sick feeling that I could possibly think of, I think of not being ready for the greatest event in all history, the event of Jesus soon coming. For me, the most sickening feeling would be to hear the words, “…I never knew you:…” Matthew 7:23. That sick feeling of realizing that I am lost. I imagine my daughter had the most horrible sick feeling in her stomach when she realized she was lost. Just like I had the sick feeling in my stomach when I realized my daughter was lost, God has even a greater sick feeling. He loves us so much and when we don’t choose Him and His ways He suffers. He has so many children that His suffering is indescribable.
Fear
The great news is that we have a forgiving God. If we have gone astray and gotten lost there is still time to be found. Now is the time to come to Him asking for forgiveness and He is ever waiting and longing to forgive.
There is only one thing that we need to fear and that is separation and that separation only happens as we choose it. God doesn’t bring the separation, we do. Just like my daughter clung to me thereafter, we need to cling to Jesus. As we cling to Him there is nothing to fear. We need to walk with Him hand in hand. We cannot let anything come between Him and ourselves otherwise we will get lost. He will be constantly searching for us but if we don’t want to be found He doesn’t push His way in. And if we continue not to listen to the pleadings of the Holy Spirit, His voice will get softer and softer until we can’t hear it anymore.
Cling to Jesus
The answer is to cling to Jesus. We need to stay in full connection to Him. Here are some ways to stay connected.
- I look at prayer as a key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven’s storehouse, where are treasured boundless resources. We need to be coming to God everyday and speaking to Him as well as listening to His voice.
- Be in the word. We must be in the Word each day. God’s Word is full of instructions and promises. As we allow the Holy Spirit to teach us we can know which course to pursue.
- Memorize verses from God’s Word. If we have promises memorized from God’s Word, we can bring them to mind when we are having struggles throughout the day or when we are tempted.
- Guard the avenues of the soul. We need to guard our 5 senses. Making choice that will keep us out of harms way. We can protect ourselves from temptations by guarding ourselves. We don’t want put ourselves in a position that will make it harder for us to stay connected. My daughter was tempted to skip the squares on the floor and she took her eyes off of me and did not see me go in a different direction. That is exactly what can happen to us if we don’t keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.
Dear Father,
Thank You for always being there through every circumstance in life. Continue to prompt our hearts to keep our eyes on You. And help us to be ready when You come.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Keep your eyes fixed on the One that can lead and guide you through every circumstance.
Love you all.
What illustration can you share today? I would love to hear it.
The five senses. That’s a good way to think of what we eat, see etc. Appreciate that thought very much.
I am glad it was a blessing to you.