Nothing in the Way

Jennifer spoke after Carole, and actually she wrote about it in Friday’s post, “It’s Not Complicated.” Jennifer read that when you sit down with God, it’s a good idea to ask Him to remove any hindrance that might be between the two of you. Often when I sit down to be with the Father, I struggle through the sticky distractions. It’s like I have to pull myself up and out of a funk to be with Him. I don’t know if it’s accusations of the enemy or just neurotic self-guilt, but I have to work to get where fellowship can happen. Throwing off all that hinders is like casting off excess garments. I have to come clothed in His righteousness not cloaked with…you name it. Like I said in my post “Blood Bath,” Blood is our clothing and entrance. But the cool thing here is that I can ask God, my Father and Shepherd, to tell me what stands between us. I don’t have to figure it out – I can just ask. And once He shows me, I can easily confess, repent, and enter into the faith that it is done. Then fellowship is easy to attain, because He made it so.

He wants us to be in fellowship with Him, so of course, He will tell me what is preventing it, until nothing is in the way. So simple! I, like Jennifer, often make a bigger deal out of the hindrances than they deserve. “Hey John, I can’t see you beneath that blanket of doubt! Here, let Me take that off you.” “Ah, thanks, God! That’s so much better, now I can breathe.”

Therefore also now, says the Lord, turn and keep on coming to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning [until every hindrance is removed and the broken fellowship is restored]. Rend your hearts and not your garments and return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in loving-kindness; and He revokes His sentence of evil [when His conditions are met].
Joel 2:12-13 AMP