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.

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倚靠神的同在

但那等候耶和華的……行走卻不疲乏。 （賽四十31）

行路並無甚刺激，但卻是一切堅定品質的考驗。 [行走卻不疲乏]，是能力最高的境地。聖經中用[行走]來描畫人的品質——[約翰見耶穌行走，就說，看哪，這是神的羔羊！ ]聖經的話從不抽象，總是生動而真實。神沒有說：[你要屬靈。 ]他是說：[行在我裡面。 ]我們的身體或情緒上處於不健康的狀態，就會尋求刺激，尋求凌空飛翔的經歷，就會招來屬靈破產的結局。

神同在的真實，不在乎地方，只在乎我們決心把主常擺在面前。許多的問題，都出自不肯信賴他同在的事實。詩人說：[雖然……我們也不害怕。 ]若我們倚靠他，也能有同樣的經歷；者不是倚靠神同在的感覺，而是抓緊神同在的真實。 ——[噢，他原來一直都在這裡！ ]。當然，在緊急關頭時可以求主指引，但卻不需要一天到晚說：[主啊，帶領我這個，帶領我那個。 ]他必會帶領的。我們按常理作的決定，若不合神的心，他自會插手阻攔；這是，我們就得安靜，等候他的引導。

祈禱◆噢，主啊，你的道路何等奇妙！當我回想你帶領和陪同我走過的道路，我便在驚嘆、愛意和讚美中渾然忘我。