7月20日 倚靠神的同在

但那等候耶和华的……行走却不疲乏。（赛四十31）

行路并无甚刺激，但却是一切坚定品质的考验。“行走却不疲乏”，是能力最高的境地。圣经中用“行走”来描画人的品质——“约翰见耶稣行走，就说，看哪，这是神的羔羊！”圣经的话从不抽象，总是生动而真实。神没有说：“你要属灵。”他是说：“行在我里面。”我们的身体或情绪上处于不健康的状态，就会寻求刺激，寻求凌空飞翔的经历，就会招来属灵破产的结局。

神同在的真实，不在乎地方，只在乎我们决心把主常摆在面前。许多的问题，都出自不肯信赖他同在的事实。诗人说：“虽然……我们也不害怕。”若我们倚靠他，也能有同样的经历；不是倚靠神同在的感觉，而是抓紧神同在的真实。——“噢，他原来一直都在这里！”。当然，在紧急关头时可以求主指引，但却不需要一天到晚说：“主啊，带领我这个，带领我那个。”他必会带领的。我们按常理作的决定，若不合神的心，他自会插手阻拦；这时，我们就得安静，等候他的引导。

祈祷◆噢，主啊，你的道路何等奇妙！当我回想你带领和陪同我走过的道路，我便在惊叹、爱意和赞美中浑然忘我。

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.