Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ – THE Crucified and Risen Saviour! It looks like a day of surprises, even the weather has not decided which way it is going to go. I trust everyone that had a good weekend and that the first days of this week have been positive. I will be praying for you today, asking Father to speak one of His promises into your mind and heart to give you a focal point for your faith.
I have been learning about ‘white spaces’ lately. A ‘white space’ is that awkward, unsettling time when a Christian is living out his or her faith without a sense of God’s presence …or the time between God’s call and the fulfilment of that call. It is defined by a Scripture verse. After having been told by the Angel of God that God’s presence was with him, Gideon responds: “With me, my master? If GOD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all the miracle-wonders our parents and grandparents told us about…” Judges 6:13a The Message. I don’t know about you, but I have said those words a few times.
Just think, God gave Moses an insight into the slavery of the Jewish people and then Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness waiting for God to show op. Remember David – anointed king of Israel one afternoon and then right back to the sheep pasture. What about Joseph – from son to slave to prisoner to forgotten man to the kin’s palace, wondering where is God? Or Paul on the Damascus road – a divine encounter where he received his marching orders and then waiting 17 years to be activated. Why the ‘white spaces’ – feeling alone, deserted, abandoned? “Faith in Christ is far from simple and easy because he is an astounding king, who instead of defending his people, (apparently) deserts them. Whom he would save he must first make a despairing sinner. Whom he would make wise he must first turn into a fool. Whom he would make alive, he must first kill. Whom he would bring to honour, he must first dishonour. He is a strange king who is nearest when he is (apparently) far. Martin Luther.
A question that sits before me right now is this: Can you walk by faith in God’s promises alone, even when you can’t see or feel anything? J.D. Greear – “Jesus, continued”. And then I am challenged by the admonition: “Don’t waste your white space!” There may not be much to write about in this time but much is being written in you! The feeling of being alone is that – a feeling and not the reality. Martin Luther calls it: a divinely designed illusion. How do we live in the ‘white space’ … walk by faith, not by sight – ‘re-believe the gospel’ – reclaim the promises! – and don’t waste your ‘white space’ , it is God’s laboratory.
Be blessed!