Red Dot

"Then the Lord called to the man, 'Where are you?' " Genesis 3:9 Have you ever found yourself in a mall or an airport trying to get your bearings? You can see what's all around you, but you don't really know where you are in relation to everything else, and particularly in relation to where you want to get to. Then you come to that large stationary layout with a floor plan. There is always a prominent dot, usually red, that tells you, "You are here." All that brings me to another question for each one of us. Where is our "red dot?" Where are we really at? In relation to others, in relation to Christ? We can see what's around us, but does what we see really tell us where we are spiritually? Do we even know? Where are we in our walk with Him? Where are we in our marriages, families, friendships, and ministries? Do we have a sense of where we want to be but don't really know how we're to get there? How do we really "get our bearings?" How do we get to where He wants us to be? To where He is? I think it starts with His words to us in Scripture; Be still and know that I am God. Busyness is the great enemy of intimacy with Him. Distractions keep our attention on everything but Christ. There are plenty of "roadside attractions" to sidetrack us from Him. Our red dot can be found in so many places He doesn't want us to be, but we won't know that until we stop, be still, and tune our hearts to Him. We won't discover who He really is or where we're really at, until we're still before Him. How does our "dot" get so removed from Him? There's more than one reason, but I think the greatest is that we're hiding from Him, and we find unending ways to do so. Sinful behavior is certainly at the top of the list, but we can hide in plain sight in so many ways. Jonah has plenty of company in his running from God in order to avoid His will and call. He ended up in the belly of a fish. Where and to what has your running and hiding brought you? Here's the beauty in it all. If your red dot is now in a place you never thought you'd be, a place you never intended to go, don't panic. Stop running and hiding. Simply be still, listen to His whisper of grace. Surrender where you are to Him. Call out His name, and He will come. He will come and take you to where He wants you to be in all aspects of your life. Your red dot and all that comes with it has to be surrendered to Him, otherwise you'll keep running, keep hiding, keep wandering, and always going nowhere. There's only one place your dot needs to be; right in the center of His heart. When that happens, you'll never need to ask where you are because your know where you always are. At home in His heart. Blessings, Pastor O