I took a short-cut and turned on a country road at the same time a road construction crew was setting up detour signs. Timing is everything! So, I followed the detour signs and ended up where I didn't want to be . . . and then the adventure began . . .
There are detours in life.
Detours direct us away from our destination.
We end up somewhere else.
How do we determine if we are in the right place? How do we know if we should stay or go?
The answer can be formed in a question: Is God present?
It happened in the ancient days.
The people had been in the presence of Christ, God with us
. . . receiving words of life
. . . experiencing Life
. . . energized
. . . satisfied as Jesus took all they had and made it more than enough.
They remained in the place of the miracle.
But . . .
Christ was not present.
The place must have felt empty and void of Life.
They saw the difference and wanted to go where Jesus and the disciples were:
Several boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the Lord had blessed the bread and the people had eaten. So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him. (John 6:23-24, Amplified)
Where in the world are you?
How can we be in the presence of God when there are so many distractions and detours in this world?
We are told:
Do not be afraid or discouraged,
for the Lord will personally go ahead of you.
He will be with you;
he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
(Deuteronomy 31:8, NLT)
Commit to being in the presence of God.
Refuse to be detoured by fear or discouragement.
Follow Christ . . . go where Christ is . . . have faith that Christ will never fail or abandon you.
Learning with you to be in the presence of God,
Shalom,
Kerrie
(All devotions written by Kerrie Palmer ©2009 All Rights Reserved)
