Journey to Pentecost

May 7, 2010   Luke 24.36

He was there – then He wasn’t there.  In and out.  There and gone!  It seemed Jesus was in some ways playing a game with His followers.  Appearing then disappearing.  Can you imagine?  I mean after all these folks are still trying to emotionally adjust to the fact that He is alive.  Then there’s this game of hide and seek He is playing with them.  At first it didn’t make sense to me.  I mean, come on!  As the Savior you have been dead for three days.  You get up and startle the world with appearances.  You scared the wa-bee-gees (my word…don’t try to look it up) out of some people.  They’re already confused, disillusioned and scared for their lives and you have to play this hide and seek game!  I was a little set back by this…until I began to process it through this hard-headed brain of mine.   Nothing’s included in Holy Writ for no reason.  Everything, all the crossed T’s and dotted I’s have a reason and a purpose.  So I began to think this thing through.  Sometimes that can be a struggle within itself – you know…me thinking something through!

Isn’t this the way He is with us?  I understand He is with us and that He will never leave us.  He is with us by taking residence in us through His Spirit.   His Spirit abides with us at all times.  But…sometimes we either are unconscious of the fact He is with us, we have forgotten He is with us or we just simply don’t care that He is with us.  Whatever the reason – it happens to us that there are times He just “appears” to us.  All of a sudden you sense His divine presence.  All of a sudden you “know” that He is there.   I have quoted Dad (Kenneth Sr.) Hagin hundreds of times because he used to say, “You know it in your knower!”  Your “knower” is your spirit man.  We just know He is with us.  There are those special moments.

Like the Emmaus Two He shows up.  He just “appears” by His presence.  He shows up in the hospital ER when life is teetering in the balance.  He shows up when we hit a deer with our motorcycle and shouldn’t have in the natural walked away from it.  He shows up when life’s toughest confrontations visit our homes and families.  He shows up when we are sharing our testimony with an unsaved / unchurched person.  He shows up in a moment of worship as you drive to work.  He shows up when your children are in trouble.  He shows up when the provision for life’s necessities has run dry.  He shows up!  He simply “appears”.  

I can’t tell you how many times I have stepped into a situation blinded by human ignorance and all of a sudden He shows up.  You sense a wisdom that supersedes your natural sense of understanding.   I have been at a loss for knowledge and direction and suddenly He shows up throws supernatural knowledge around me like a warm blanket on a chilly night.  I have felt the weight of oppressiveness with life and or ministry seasons and in a quite time of devotion, walking in park, sitting on a park bench, driving in the country, sitting in a parking lot weeping uncontrollably – I have sensed His presence.  He shows up and He is always on time. 

For a moment it seems He is playing a cat and mouse game or hide and seek.  But He really is just waiting for the right moment.  Then He is just “there.”   He is there to bring light to darkness.  He is there to bring joy to a grievous situation.  He’s there to bring hope to hopelessness.  He is there to bring healing to our pain.  He is there to be a Friend when friends have abandoned you.  He is there to bring provision when the meal barrel is dry.   He is there to manifest Himself when doubt and fear have become our unwanted emotional residents.  Oh yes!  He knows just when to appear and disappear.

I want to challenge you on this journey to pay attention to His abiding presence.  Look back over your shoulders at the shelves of your life experiences and take note of how many times He has been there.   He just showed up.  His presence was manifest in some form or another.  There are times when it seems He may be playing a convenient game of hide and seek – but He is aware of every breath you breathe and every step in life you take.  He is there.   He always has been and always will be.