April 11, 2019 – Click here to listen
Have you ever felt like you were in a spiritual rut? I seem to be in one at the moment. So, what to do? The Bible teaches: “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” If Jesus needed this quiet time with The Father, then what does it say about us? I have felt for some time that God called me in a certain direction and I willingly went, but does God now want me to change directions as evidenced by my feeling like I’m in a rut?
King David was a terrific example of someone who would do nothing until he inquired of the Lord. He didn’t just inquire once, but many times and he often found that had he stuck with the initial instruction he would have been killed by his many enemies. This seems like sound logic. Situations sometimes change and just because we are on a path that God initially had us on doesn’t mean He wants us to stay on it indefinitely. Thus, we see the need to inquire of God often.
There is always a danger of merely being discouraged because of a purported lack of progress and quitting because success isn’t coming as fast as we might like, and we must watch for that for sure. One definition of insanity, however, is to keep trying the same thing and expect to obtain different results. We don’t necessarily need to abandon our goals to achieve different results, but instead maybe try a fresh new God-inspired approach.
In order to ascertain the approach that He desires for us leads me back to my initial observations: “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Praying and fasting and inquiring of the Lord as to the direction needed to break free of the rut and get on the path Jesus wants seems to me to be the key. As for me I want to serve God in the best way I know. He knows what He desires and how He wants it done. I need synchronization with Him, and I have faith He will lead me on the right path if I will work hard on it to achieve his will for my life.
God said He is not of this world and yet the prayer in Matthew that states: your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven tells us in part that we are to pursue His heavenly kingdom while on earth. David had a goal that we should all ask the Lord to grant for us:
Psalm 27.4
One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.