The Lord and I were having a discussion this morning (10/17). I was trying to sort some things out because from a guys perspective, getting a handle on intimacy with the Lord and praying with His presence in mind (see the October 31st devotional) is not always an easy thing to do. Most guys – or at least this guy – tends to feel very uncomfortable with mushy-gushy girlie emotions. I’m not trying to be sexist here. We all know, though, that most women feel things very deeply and their emotions are easily touched, typically prompting tears. They don’t fight the natural expressions of those emotions.
I’m a guy. I have those tender emotions but it takes a lot to draw them out. They don’t just pop out all willy-nilly! When something does tug at those heart strings, I fight to keep the emotions under control and from getting out. I don’t want them on public display. It’s a guy thing.
I also have preconceived notions about certain things. For instance – and I don’t say this critically; it’s just me – I have a hard time with a GUY responding to a group text message with a big red heart or the automated response, “LOVED.” Girls do that, not guys.
Some of you are thinking, “This guy has issues!” You’re probably right. I didn’t write anything you’ve just read to say that emotional, weepy, heart-tagging guys are sinning or doing anything improper. Not at all! I simply gave you my back story to help explain something that hit me this morning.
As I was praying, I was wanting to just be in God’s presence. No requests. No confession. Just praising, worshipping, and talking with the Lord. I was telling the Lord that I wasn’t feeling the way I thought it would feel if I was really close and in His presence. Then a song came to mind:
Just a closer walk with Thee
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea
Daily walkin’ close to Thee
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be
I could hear the country twang. I could see people singing this with feeling. I could sense the emotion of others but no emotion from me. THAT’s when the Lord broke into my thoughts.
Nothing in Scripture teaches that the closer we get to the Lord’s presence, the more emotional we will get. Instead, the closer we are to the Lord, the more holy we get – not holier-than-thou but a holiness that desires to purge all worldliness.
Isaiah 6:1-5 says, “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. (2) Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. (3) And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. (4) And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. (5) Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” The closer Isaiah got to the presence of God, the more clearly he could see his own unholiness.
Such a revelation didn’t prompt him to point out the faults of others. Yes, he acknowledged sin that was all around him but it was the sin that was IN him that God was going to address.
Isaiah 6:6-7 gives God’s response. “Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: (7) And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.”
I can be as close to God that I want to be but the closer I get, the more God is going to reveal indwelling sin and start to deal with it. To be “in His presence” is to get closer and closer to the refining fire of His holiness and righteousness. If God begins to deal with me and reveal things that need to change and I don’t want to give them up, I will retreat from His presence to protect the things I love, refusing to part with them. But the moment I relinquish that which God is addressing, I get to move a step closer in that throne room.
It’s NOT about emotion or emotionalism. It’s NOT about feeling something. It’s always about holiness. It’s always about surrender. It’s always about truth. And the truth is that the fire of God’s presence will burn away the things in our life that are unnecessary.
Job 23:10 reminds us, “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”
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