0720 依靠神的同在
…但那等候耶和华的…行走却不疲乏。 《以赛亚书 40:31》
对我们来说，行走并没有什么刺激，但却考验着我们所有稳健和持久的品质。「行走却不疲乏」是衡量力量最大伸展的程度。圣经中用「行走」这个词来表达一个人的品格——「…约翰…见耶稣行走，就说：『看哪，这是神的羔羊！』」（约翰福音 1:35-36）。圣经中没有抽象或晦涩的；一切都是生动而真实。神没有说：「要属灵」，而是说：「当在我面前行走…」（创世记 17:1）。
当我们身体或情绪在不健康的状况时，我们总是在生活中寻找刺激。在我们身体生活中，这导致我们努力假冒圣灵的工作；在我们的情感生活中，它导致我们的痴迷和道德的破坏；在我们的灵性生活中，如果我们坚持只追求刺激，「如鹰展翅」上腾（以赛亚书40:31），那将导致我们灵性的毁灭。
有神同在的真实，并不在于我们处于特定的环境或地方，而只在于我们不断地把主摆在我们面前的决心。当我们拒绝相信祂同在的事实时，我们的问题就出现了。诗篇作者所说的经历——「虽…，我们也不害怕。」（诗篇 46:2）——一旦我们扎根于神同在之事实上，这将成为我们的经历，不仅是简单地意识到这一点，而是理解到它的真实；然后我们会惊呼：「祂一直都在这里！」在我们生命的关键时刻，寻求神的指引是必要的，但没有必要经常说：「哦，主啊，在这事，在那事上指引。」当然祂会，事实上，祂已经在做了！如果我们日常的决定合乎祂的旨意，祂就会透过它们施压，使我们的灵受到约束。然后我们必须安静，并等待祂同在的指引。
来自章伯斯的智慧
眼见不等于相信；我们根据我们所信的来解释我们所看见的。信仰是在你看到神出现之前对神的信任；因此，信仰的本质是它必须经受考验。《他必荣耀我》
0720 Dependent on God’s Presence
Those who wait on the Lord…shall walk and not faint. —Isaiah 40:31
There is no thrill for us in walking, yet it is the test for all of our steady and enduring qualities. To “walk and not faint” is the highest stretch possible as a measure of strength. The word walk is used in the Bible to express the character of a person— “…John…looking at Jesus as He walked…said, ‘Behold the Lamb of God!’ ” (John 1:35-36). There is nothing abstract or obscure in the Bible; everything is vivid and real. God does not say, “Be spiritual,” but He says, “Walk before Me…” (Genesis 17:1).
When we are in an unhealthy condition either physically or emotionally, we always look for thrills in life. In our physical life this leads to our efforts to counterfeit the work of the Holy Spirit; in our emotional life it leads to obsessions and to the destruction of our morality; and in our spiritual life, if we insist on pursuing only thrills, on mounting up “with wings like eagles” (Isaiah 40:31), it will result in the destruction of our spirituality.
Having the reality of God’s presence is not dependent on our being in a particular circumstance or place, but is only dependent on our determination to keep the Lord before us continually. Our problems arise when we refuse to place our trust in the reality of His presence. The experience the psalmist speaks of— “We will not fear, even though…” (Psalm 46:2)— will be ours once we are grounded on the truth of the reality of God’s presence, not just a simple awareness of it, but an understanding of the reality of it. Then we will exclaim, “He has been here all the time!” At critical moments in our lives it is necessary to ask God for guidance, but it should be unnecessary to be constantly saying, “Oh, Lord, direct me in this, and in that.” Of course He will, and in fact, He is doing it already! If our everyday decisions are not according to His will, He will press through them, bringing restraint to our spirit. Then we must be quiet and wait for the direction of His presence.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Seeing is never believing: we interpret what we see in the light of what we believe. Faith is confidence in God before you see God emerging; therefore, the nature of faith is that it must be tried. He Shall Glorify Me, 494 R