Watch out!

 Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that’s not the way of Christ. Everything of God gets expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly. You don’t need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him. When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything. Colossians 2:9-10 MSG

Can you feel it?

When the music plays and the worship starts, there is a feeling in the room as voices begin to lift up high, hands reach in the air, all calling out to our God.

It’s amazing. It’s powerful. It’s awesome.

We feel God’s presence at moments like these. We feel God close to us and we bask in that for as long as we can.

We know it’s real.

Then we walk out to our cars, we continue with our lives. We go to school, go to work, go out into the world. As we attempt to tell people about Jesus, we listen to people tell us we are nuts for believing in an invisible God who does nothing to stop innocent children from dying. We nod our heads in understanding as people explain to us that there can’t be a God who would allow entire countries to starve.

We walk away feeling defeated, small, useless.

Pay attention! The emptiness, the defeat, the smallness we feel is nothing more than feeling their absence from God. It is this black hole – this vacuum that the world sucks up us believers by the handful. If we buy the lie, if we allow Satan to tell us that this emptiness we can feel is real, we can get sucked into the darkness.

This is why it’s so important to come back to recharge. Come back to worship, come back to studying the word, come back to hear the message – over and over and over. Let it full us back up.

That feeling, the one we got in worship – that is real. That is God connecting with us when we praise Him.

That feeling, the one we got when we felt defeated - that one is real too. We need to let the feeling of the absence of God empower us to be bolder, to show Jesus brighter, to stop nodding our heads.

God, you are amazing and I feel you so powerfully in worship, it’s hard to put it into words. Help me remember that power when I feel the vacuum of your absence. Remind me that it’s just a void that needs you. Give me the words to help people understand why I love you so much.