Almost all public buildings that you enter have a fire alarm switch that says something like “In Case Of Emergency Pull Down”. Now, if we pull this switch and there isn’t an emergency we get into trouble because these are only to be used in a real emergency. Likewise, we also have 911 that we can call in an emergency and get help. However, if we call 911 like the boy who called and wanted help with his homework, we get into trouble because we’re not supposed to call except in an emergency.
Well, many people treat God the same way. They only call on Him in an “emergency.” When everything is going fine – they don’t need God they think, or at least they don’t need Him as urgently.
It’s kind of like a storm shelter. When a tornado or other storm is coming, people RUN to storm shelters to get protection and comfort. But all the while they are thinking “when is this storm going to be over so I can leave this shelter?” And many people RUN to God when things are going bad, when things are difficult, when they are having trouble. But, as soon as the “trouble” is over and passed, they go back to their old selfish ways and live the way they were living BEFORE the trouble came.
God IS NOT a storm shelter that we only run to when things are going bad. Yes, HE MOST DEFINITELY IS a shelter in times of storm, BUT that’s not ALL He is. He is also our help and hope when everything is going well and life is “good.”
God often sends trials and troubles into our lives to draw us closer to Him. And many of us do indeed draw closer to Him during those times. But, then when everything is back to “normal” and the trouble is over and passed, we seem to say, “Ah, the storm is over. I can go back to doing whatever I want now. I don’t need God as much anymore.”
David wrote in Psalm 119:10, “With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!” And the Bible says in 1 Chronicles 16:11, “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!” We should DAILY (and really EVERY MOMENT of every day) seek GOD, and desire to be CONSTANTLY in His presence. Then, when a storm comes, we don’t have to RUN back to Him, we are already living DAILY in Him.
Why is it that after the “trouble” is over, we so often quickly run back to the things that got us into trouble in the first place? Our flesh and this world will NEVER satisfy us, they won’t protect us, they can’t provide for us like God can. So, we should STOP running back to them once the storms of life are over.
So what if the storm has passed – ALWAYS stay as CLOSE TO GOD as you can possibly get!!