Perhaps during a time set aside and without distractions, you are able to connect with God, but everyday life is causing you to leave being according to the Spirit. If this is the case with you, you need to find out why. We leave abiding in Christ when the events that come our way during the day cause us to leave trusting God on some level. It’s either an issue of width or depth.
The Issue of Width
The issue of width addresses the fact that we believe lies in a broad spectrum of life’s situations. The more lies we have, the more areas of our lives are affected; therefore fewer of the moments of our day are spent according to the Spirit. For any particular circumstance or issue, the reason why we leave trusting God is almost always because our lie says that:
1. God is not taking care of us or a particular situation.
2. We believe something about who we are that is not true.
We should always approach the solving of dilemmas in our lives with prayer. God is our creator. He knows us inside and out. The Lord Jesus is our advocate; He was a man just like us and was tempted in all things, yet without sin. The Holy Spirit is our helper; He counsels us in the deep things of our hearts, which only He can know.
We should make it habit and pattern in our lives to talk to the Lord in this way, “Lord, why do I leave you whenever this particular thing happens? What is the lie I am believing in this situation? What is the truth about this particular circumstance that keeps re-occurring?”
Let’s look at an example: You are able to enjoy the presence of God in a set aside time alone with God. You are believing the good news and connecting with Him. It is now time to leave your place of stillness and no distractions and go about the rest of your day.
On your way to work you get a call on your cell phone. The person on the other end is your most recent client from work. They tell you to cancel the job they’ve agreed for you to do, and that they’ve hired someone else. You explain to them that they signed a contract with you and that you’ve already spent $3,000 in expenses getting the job ready to start. Your client is not moved by your pleas and hangs up the phone.
You instantly become very angry and charged with emotion. Your mind is racing with thoughts like, “I’m going to sue them! They can’t do this to me, it’s wrong!” But you realize that suing them would cost you more in time and money than it would be worth. You’ve left the rest of God and the place of peace you once had in your time alone with the Lord.
If it were only a one time occurrence, you would simply confess it to God, repent and let it go. But this is not a one time situation. Every time a customer rubs you the wrong way, you get hot. You understand that you tend to leave being according to the Spirit for the same situation over and over again. You therefore realize this is happening over and over again because there is something in your heart you are believing that is not true. As you make it a priority in your life to seek the Lord on this issue, He shows you the lie you believe and the truth to replace it with.
The Holy Spirit reveals to you that deep in your heart, you believe that your sustenance comes from your clients. You believe that your provision, the money you need everyday, and the bills being paid each month, directly comes from your job and your clients. If a client backs out, then you feel stress. You begin to panic inside because your water just got cut off from the source.
As you do the work necessary to seek God, He shows you that this is all a lie. He reminds you that He said the birds of the air do not sow or reap, yet He feeds them – and that you are more important to Him than birds. He reminds you that the flowers in the fields are clothed with beauty, yet they do nothing to provide for themselves. He reminds you not to seek after the food that is perishable, but to seek after the things that are eternal. He reminds you that the unbelievers eagerly seek after food, clothing, and provision, but that your Father in heaven knows that you need these things – and that if you seek first the Kingdom, He will simply add these things to you.
You now realize within your heart, that all your needs will be met even if a client pulls the plug on a project. In fact, you don’t need your clients at all, although God may use them from time to time to provide for you. The next time a client calls you and cancels a project, or something similar happens, you immediately go to the truth in your heart – God is taking care of you apart from your job and apart from this client. You experience something totally different the next time a client pulls the plug on you – you are almost detached during the phone conversation. In the same moments they are talking to you about canceling the project, you are aware of your Father and the secret that you both share. You can smile during the next bad phone call.
We all have many lies we believe. Our lies are broad sweeping and wide, affecting many areas of life. They have many different faces and variations. The lies we believe affect our trust in the Lord during the moments of our day.
As mentioned above, many times our lie is what a certain situation says to us about who we are. Situations that say to us we are “less than”, not valued, not cherished, not lovable, belittled, set aside, and not considered, are EXTREMELY common. Remember that our greatest human needs are safety and love. Any situations that affect these or threaten these tend to tempt us to leave rest and leave trusting in the Spirit.
Situations in life don’t get us out of rest, they just expose where we are walking and what we are believing.
As you seek the Lord on the various situations in life that are causing you to leave communing with the Lord, He will speak to you the truth. As you hear from God and read in scripture your extreme value to God, your worth, that you are the object of His affection – and as you begin to truly believe these things about yourself, you will not leave the Lord near as often. Again, you must become “built up” and strong in these things during times of no distraction, in order to have a reservoir to draw from during everyday life.
It may take some years to shorten the width of our lies. As we go through life seeking the Lord and our lies become more dismantled and exposed, we tend to get more and more room. Therefore we tend to abide in the Spirit during more and more of our moments during the day.
The Issue of Depth
The other reason for us leaving abiding in Christ is the issue of depth. The issue of depth has nothing to do with any lies we may have. It deals with the degree of saturation we are having in our time alone with God.
If you are ankle deep in a pool of water, many things can cause you to get out the water. If you are neck deep, you’ll tend to stay wet whatever comes your way. Likewise, if your time alone with God is a shallow time, or merely a brief “touch and go,” the trouble of everyday life will affect you to a greater degree. But if you become totally saturated, caught up with, and lost in the Spirit of Jesus, you are much less prone to be “thrown” from the daily events.
