Sponge
Like so many people I have wanted to have a closer relationship with God and to truly be tuned in to His voice. So many times I thought I was operating by direction from God only to realize and find out later that God wasn’t in the mix.
I think we humans tend to make it hard to know God when He has said it is simple; spend time with Me and I will lead you and guide you. Right…; is there some special super duper hard thing that I can do, God? Some severe or monumental sacrifice? No, He says seek first the Kingdom of God and all those other things will be added. What else can I do to be more tuned in to God?
We certainly don’t seem to believe that God is not holding out on us, waiting until we reach super spiritual level 1or higher! After all, Jesus suffered, so of course we must do so as well. So many thoughts and sermons, testimonies and other influences were swirling around when Father God gave me an analogy using my kitchen sponge.
I have a sponge that sits at the back of my sink behind the faucet. It has a two fold purpose, to catch the water that splashes against the backboard and to mop up occasional spills. Some times the sponge is so dry it will hardly absorb the liquid. It sort of makes this scratchy sound as I use it to wipe up a spill. Why is that? It is because it has been sitting there behind the faucet and no water has touched it, all of the moisture has evaporated. At other times, the sponge is a bit damp and can very easily pick up crumbs or a few drops of water or what have you. If the sponge happens to be in the sink filled with water, and I have a major mess to clean up, the sponge is saturated to the point that it cannot absorb anymore, and it at this point the water in the sponge begins to leak out. I have to squeeze or wring out some of the water (the anointing) in order for the sponge to take on cleaning up the mess.
Our Lord Jesus, spent considerable time in the presence of the Father. In His own words, He said I only do what I see the Father do and I only say what I hear the Father say. He would often go aside to spend time with the Father. When the Holy Spirit descended on Him at the Jordan river, the scripture says that the Spirit remained on Him. With this presence and power, Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. (Acts 10:38)
We are often like the sponge. Without active pursuit of God, we can be in varying degrees of moisture or dryness spiritually. Our weekly church service is just enough to make us moist. If we attend a weekly bible study or mid-week church service, we maintain a bit of that moisture.
Without constant contact with God we dry out; our moisture just evaporates. You can tell when you are dry because of how you respond to situations or people when you are caught off guard. Our routine activities can absorb what moisture we have, if we do not replenish our spirit man with the Word of God. Contrarily, just spending time in the Word is not sufficient to keep us saturated; we need fellowship with God and to experience His presence. When something blindsides you, are you scratchy, moist or saturated?
This spending time with God is not a passive, inconsistent process. Each bit of time we spend with Him delivers moisture to our spirit, but to become saturated requires constant contact with the source; with God Himself. Reading the Word of God without the Spirit of God revealing His truths to us is an exercise in discipline, but not fellowship with God.
As I learned to spend time with God, without seeking some special favor or making petitions, I discovered that when situations did arise, I had peace and clarity. I had a confidence that God was in the mix and He would show me the solution. Sometimes, just like the overly wet sponge, just my touch left an impression because of the saturation. It is the anointing that destroys the yoke.
Ephesians 3:19-21(Amp) gives us a description of what spending time with God will do for us:
19 [That you may really come] to know [practically, [a]through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses [b]mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] [c]unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and [d]become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!20 Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]—21 To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen (so be it).(The Bible Gateway; www.biblegateway.com)
