Glory Seed Devotional’s, 2017: Anticipating and Experiencing Jehovah-Jireh...
Going off the grid with Jesus...
Shalom!

Has this ever been you? “I look for someone to come and help me, but no one gives me a passing thought! No one will help me; no one cares a bit what happens to me. Then I pray to you, O Lord. I say, “You are my place of refuge. You are all I really want in life.” (Psalms 142:4-5, NLT) If that describes your life then you’ve been in good company because, “At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”” (Matthew 27:45–46, NLT), Jesus experienced abandonment too.

As far as I am concerned there is no worse experience than that of abandonment or loneliness. What’s so devastating about feeling abandoned or lonely is they can happen in a crowded room surrounded by family and friends. In verse 3 the Psalmist talks about traps the enemy sets for us, when you stop and think about it isn’t abandonment and loneliness enemies too? In an earlier Psalm the Psalmist reminds us of how God handles our enemies. “I will praise You, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things You have done. I will be filled with joy because of You. I will sing praises to Your name, O Most High. My enemies retreated; they staggered and died when You appeared. For You have judged in my favor; from Your throne You have judged with fairness.” (Psalms 9:1-4 NLT)

However, there are times when loneliness doesn’t die instead the Holy Spirit transforms it into aloneness. In the hands of Jesus loneliness becomes a doorway to aloneness. And aloneness then becomes a doorway to a deeper relationship with God. Take Jesus for example, “Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that His disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while He sent the people home. After sending them home, He went up into the hills by Himself to pray. Night fell while He was there alone.” (Matthew 14:22-23 NLT)

No one really knows what happened when Jesus went “off the grid” and away from His daily distractions but He was never alone. I am sure out of His relationship with the Father the Holy Spirit transformed His abandonment/loneliness to Blessings of God’s Presence! Jesus was never alone. For many abandonment/loneliness is a death sentence (not physical death) but an emotional death but for those who walk in Jesus’ footsteps and live in His heart feelings of abandonment/loneliness are invitations to spend time with the LORD on His terms not ours or the worlds. Going “off the grid” can be getting off by yourself like the Bible says or it can also be getting off with a loved one or Christian friends like the Bible says of Jesus and His disciples. The trick is when they begin pulling you into their deadly trap as soon as you can get off the grid, Blessings are awaiting!

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14, NLT)
Grace and PEACE,
Gary
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“Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.”