Disoriented

 John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

The immediate context of what Jesus was saying in John 14:3, was that He was telling His followers that He was returning to His Father, and the fullness of eternity, but that He would return for them, and for all who have believed upon Him, into that same fullness forever. That's a beautiful promise, and one I look more deeply for every day, as He will be returning for me either through His second coming, or, for when my life here is over, and He takes me home. However, there is deeper meaning here for all who take the name of Jesus; are we, today, living "where He is?" In every aspect of our lives, there is a place He has for us, in Him, that He means for us to dwell in. Are we? And if not, why not?

The writer and speaker, Henry Blackaby, uses the word "disoriented" quite a bit when speaking of the follower of Christ's relationship with their Savior and Lord. He writes and speaks much of how we can easily come to be disoriented from Him in our living, thinking, decision making, relationships, and worldview. In so many ways and places, we are not "where He is" at all. We're someplace far removed, and like every sense of being disoriented, we can't really say where we are, or how we got there, though the answer is simple. We took our eyes off of Him.

Much is said of the will of God, and most believers will say they want to live in His will. Do our actions support that claim? He has a will for how we treat our marriages, our spouses, our children, our stewardship, other believers in Christ, and most of all, our walk with Him. Of these, and so many others, can we honestly say that we're where He is in them? Husbands know what He desires as to how they treat and relate to their wives, and wives their husbands. Are they where He is in that? Are you? We also know His will for parenting, for how we manage the material and spiritual things He has given us and trusted us to manage. Are we where He is in those? We know He desires deep intimacy with us, and that we walk right beside Him. Do we, or do we lag behind, sometimes far behind? So much so that we can barely "see" Him in the distance, if at all.

We all want to be where He is in eternity, but our desire for such proximity to Him weakens greatly in the day to day events of our lives. The truth of it all is that we can go days without even noticing His presence, or really desiring it. Someone said that we're "Christian atheists." We live each day as if He didn't exist, in our own strength, depending upon our own abilities. We don't know where He is, or where we are in relation to Him, which is tragic. Even more, we don't seem to be upset about it...at all.

In the Gospel of John, John the Baptist points out Jesus to two of his disciples, and directs them to follow Him. They begin to do so, trailing behind. Jesus sees them, and asks what they want. They ask to know where He is living, and He replies, "Come and see!" That is what He speaks to us every moment of the day. We tend to trail behind, but He continually calls to us to come and discover where it is He's living, in all parts of our life. He's doing that right now, to you, and to me. Will we fulfill His desire that we be where He is, or will we go on being disoriented, not only to Him, but ourselves as well?

Blessings,

Pastor O