7月20日 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，尋求淩空飛翔的經歷，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；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；這時，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，我便在驚歎、愛意和讚美中渾然忘我。

July 20 Dependent On God's Presence

“They that wait upon the Lord . . . shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31

There is no thrill in walking; it is the test of all the stable qualities. To “walk and not faint” is the highest reach possible for strength. The word “walk” is used in the Bible to express the character – “John looking on Jesus as He walked, said, Behold the Lamb of God!” There is never any thing abstract in the Bible, it is always vivid and real. God does not say – Be spiritual, but – “Walk before Me.”

When we are in an unhealthy state physically or emotionally, we always want thrills. In the physical domain this will lead to counterfeiting the Holy Ghost; in the emotional life it leads to inordinate affection and the destruction of morality; and in the spiritual domain if we insist on getting thrills, on mounting up with wings, it will end in the destruction of spirituality.

The reality of God's presence is not dependent on any place, but only dependent upon the determination to set the Lord always before us. Our problems come when we refuse to bank on the reality of His presence. The experience the Psalmist speaks of – “Therefore will we not fear, though . . .” will be ours when once we are based on Reality, not the consciousness of God's presence but the reality of it – Why, He has been here all the time!

At critical moments it is necessary to ask guidance, but it ought to be unnecessary to be saying always – “O Lord, direct me here, and there.” Of course He will! If our common-sense decisions are not His order, He will press through them and check; then we must be quiet and wait for the direction of His presence.