TITLE: God Is Not "Doing" Anything By Phyllis Stokes 09/30/13 |
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Olivia sat as far in the corner as she could, hoping to escape any traffic that might come into the room. The lights were down low with only a ray of sun peeking through the window overlooking the well-manicured gardens. Usually two or three others, hoping to get a break from the workday hubbub, ventured into the chapel during lunch.
Some people are regenerated by being with other people. Olivia is more the introvert, who regenerates by getting alone and especially alone with God. She was so thankful that she worked in a place that actually had a chapel in the building. It’s where she spent most lunch hours. Today, she had left her cubicle just in time to beat the one o’clock regulars and got to sit in her favorite seat.
“Ahhhh. Lord, this is so good,” she thought to herself. Generally she came with a list of things she wanted to talk to God about; questions she needed answered, wisdom she needed for a specific project; intervention for a co-worker or family member. But this day, she came with no agenda at all. She just wanted to hang out with God. "No formalities today, Lord. I just want to be with You."
As if to prepare God for something He didn’t know was coming, she said, “God, today, I am just going to talk to you like my best friend.” She paused to think how she normally starts a conversation with a girlfriend. “God…. so, what’cha doing?”
Olivia honestly believed that when she drew close to God, He drew close to her. But she went into this discourse with the intent of just speaking directly out of her heart to God, expecting nothing more than the warm, comforting sense of His presence that normally accompanied their times together. Yes, she even believed that when she listened, God spoke to her, just not necessarily to her natural understanding.
But this time, God had something else in mind. By the time she got to the end of the sentence, she heard a response. Not out loud, but from the inside out. She didn’t have time to think it herself, yet it came like a thought. She knew it wasn’t her own thought, it came too fast.
“I’m not doing. I AM.”
“What? Wow!” She unintentionally said it out loud before she could stop herself. She didn’t know whether she was more surprised that she heard an answer so clearly, or that He answered at all. Excitement rose in her heart, she looked around to see if anybody was paying attention, or maybe they heard it too. Denton, one of the other one o’clock regulars was kneeling by a chair on the other side of the room. He didn’t move. A group of three ladies quietly prayed together in the back. Everyone was pre- occupied with their own thing; God had spoken directly to Olivia.
"Okay, this is good, God. But what do you mean?" Knowing she had a tendency to be a bit impetuous, Olivia did not want to assume she understood. This time, she wanted to really understand what God meant, not just what He said.
She sat there trying to recall the “I AM” statements in the bible.
She remembered the one where Moses wanted to tell the children of Israel the name of the One who sent him as their deliverer. They were in great distress and had been for hundreds of years. Their future, if they had one at all, looked bleak, to say the least. God simply replied, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 1
Olivia sat there, pondering, and waiting. She begin to realize something. "That covers every need they had—not just in their present situation, but every need they would ever have…forever." She wiggled around in her chair, her body flushed with exhilarating heat. What she had only read about before was becoming alive in her heart.
"I think I get it! God is I AM!!! The mere fact that He exists eternally, with ALL power, and pure love has already settled every issue—for them, and for us now. And through Christ, He has given us a blank check from His heavenly account of endless resources, endorsed with His own blood—it can’t bounce."
'"And He is saying to His children, “What do you need? If it’s according to My Word, just fill in the blank.If you’re sick, I AM…Jehovah Rapha; feeling unworthy, I AM…Jehovah Tsidkenu, your righteousness; Are you disturbed? I AM…Jehovah Shalom, your peace; No really, I AM! But you must keep your mind stayed on Me. Oh, that’s not your problem? No worries, there’s more.' "Whatever, whenever, whoever your problem, God is not waiting around to come up with a solution, I AM has already covered it."'
Olivia turned toward the window and smiled as the sunrays soaked her face. Her lunch break was ending far too soon. Looking at her watch, she took a deep, contented breath and walked quickly back to her department.
1 Exodus 3:14 NASB
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