0720 依靠神的同在
…但那等候耶和華的…行走卻不疲乏。 《以賽亞書 40:31》
對我們來說，行走並沒有什麼刺激，但卻考驗着我們所有穩健和持久的品質。「行走卻不疲乏」是衡量力量最大伸展的程度。聖經中用「行走」這個詞來表達一個人的品格——「…約翰…見耶穌行走，就說：『看哪，這是神的羔羊！』」（約翰福音 1:35-36）。聖經中沒有抽象或晦澀的；一切都是生動而真實。神沒有說：「要屬靈」，而是說：「當在我面前行走…」（創世記 17:1）。
當我們身體或情緒在不健康的狀況時，我們總是在生活中尋找刺激。在我們身體生活中，這導致我們努力假冒聖靈的工作；在我們的情感生活中，它導致我們的痴迷和道德的破壞；在我們的靈性生活中，如果我們堅持只追求刺激，「如鷹展翅」上騰（以賽亞書40:31），那將導致我們靈性的毀滅。
有神同在的真實，並不在於我們處於特定的環境或地方，而只在於我們不斷地把主擺在我們面前的決心。當我們拒絕相信祂同在的事實時，我們的問題就出現了。詩篇作者所說的經歷——「雖…，我們也不害怕。」（詩篇 46:2）——一旦我們紮根於神同在之事實上，這將成為我們的經歷，不僅是簡單地意識到這一點，而是理解到它的真實；然後我們會驚呼：「祂一直都在這裡！」在我們生命的關鍵時刻，尋求神的指引是必要的，但沒有必要經常說：「哦，主啊，在這事，在那事上指引。」當然祂會，事實上，祂已經在做了！如果我們日常的決定合乎祂的旨意，祂就會透過它們施壓，使我們的靈受到約束。然後我們必須安靜，並等待祂同在的指引。
來自章伯斯的智慧
眼見不等於相信；我們根據我們所信的來解釋我們所看見的。信仰是在你看到神出現之前對神的信任；因此，信仰的本質是它必須經受考驗。《他必榮耀我》
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