This is about life. Specifically, this is about life with God.

Whether you perceive God in your life or not, he’s in it. Not controlling your life, but there.

Beside you. Behind you, willing to catch you. Ahead of you, offering to lead you.

Whether you recognize him or not makes no difference. He is there.

Then why doesn’t he prevent trouble, struggles, catastrophes, pain … ? Why doesn’t he prevent evil?

He does sometimes, and nobody can explain when and why that is. But mostly, he doesn’t, because that’s the deal he made with we humans. He handed us the keys to our lives.

We get to do what we want.

He wants us to embody his will and ways, and implement them while on Earth, but he doesn’t make us do anything. While we are waiting for him to overcome evil, he is waiting for us to do it.

We are meant to be the enforcers of the victory over evil that Jesus achieved by dying on the cross. He handed us control. There is a whole lot more to it, including personal growth, sanctification, and yieldedness to his will and ways, and believing despite appearances, but simply put …  

We are more than conquerors through him who loves us.

“Conquerors” implies a battle, of sorts. It implies that one of our roles in this life is as a soldier. Another way of viewing it is as an elite athlete. Their skills are developed. They don’t skip straight to the winners’ platform, they actively participate in the process. It’s work.

Life is daunting when we “do life” on our own. That’s the only option if we don’t know he also provided his Holy Spirit to partner with in life. We can even know in our minds about his Spirit, but that’s not enough.

We have to connect with him for real. We have to experience him as an actual being.

He’s here for us to partner with now. As a presence in our everyday lives. But do we know that? If we do know it but haven’t experienced it, do we still expect it?

Some Bible-based Christians say that everything we need to know is “in the Word”. They even say it to scold those who mention the Holy Spirit as present in their lives. When puffed-up Christians don’t have the Holy Spirit in their private lives, they attack those who do. They begrudge people who have what they don’t.

Paradoxically, those religious people are not practicing what they preach. They preach about the Holy Spirit; they include him in their theologies and language; they know that every life situation is not in the Bible; they talk about him as our counselor and helper — they just don’t live it. Because they don’t live it, they don’t want others to. They make themselves the standard. In their minds, they are the top-dog, the know-it-all, and on a pedestal above others.

According to their terms, everyone else is expected to assume positions beneath them. That is how they imagine it. That is how they wrote the script of their aspirations. They are at the top, requiring underlings as their subjects. Fail to assume the role they require of you, and you suddenly have a target on your back. Violate the script they write for you, and you will be reprimanded. Question or fail to subjugate to them, and you will be evicted. Don’t be surprised if, after the door is slammed behind you, they follow with false accusations to discredit you.

Just in case you dare to speak the truth about them after your exit.

If you’ve happened into the orbit of people like this (in the name of Jesus no less), I feel for you. I hurt with you. May you recover from their mistreatment. May you arise from the soot of the arson committed against you.

May you not miss out on the massive benefits of having God in your life because of people who misrepresented Him. May you dodge an aversion to God because of people. May you discern the difference of who God is, and who some Christians are.

They are not him. He is not them.

Whether you’ve experienced injustices by people like this or not, know this:

God is there for you. Not controlling your life, but there.

Beside you. Behind you, willing to catch you. Ahead of you, offering to lead you.

Whether you recognize his presence or not makes no difference. He is there.

You have as much a right as any human on this planet to enter into a private and meaningful relationship with him. As much right as anyone to experience his presence. As much right as anyone to have him partner with you to advance your life story.

Seek him. He promises to be found if you do.

If nothing seems to have changed in your life; if you still don’t perceive or “hear” him …

Keep seeking him.

If learning and growth opportunities show up instead of his presence, learn and grow from them. Perhaps he wants to change and grow a few things in you before he entrusts you with his obvious presence. He sees your entire life story while you’re in the early or mid chapters, unable to see beyond now. What doesn’t make sense may in time.

Don’t expect a tidy little short story of life with God. Expect your life story with him to last the entire length of your life on Earth.

Expect a linear trajectory of “better and better and better” with him. Don’t expect to understand it all. Don’t be surprised if life looks awful sometimes, while you dared to hope for wonderful now that you’re doing life with God in it.

I don’t understand all of that. Don’t trust anyone who draws conclusions about you based on a short story arc. No person knows it all. Ignore their confident and critical conclusions of you.

Keep going forward, wanting and expecting his presence with you always. He promises that if you seek him, you will find him.

You’re not done. Your life story isn’t over. Your life isn’t just one chapter or section. It isn’t a simple short story arc.

Your life is a story line … linear … still going forward … complex …

Keep it going, no matter what anyone (or your own logic) says to discourage you.

You’re not done.

You are free to do life alone, in your own power, but you don’t have to. Muster the belief in a good God, despite people who make you want to run away from him, and …

Do life with God.

He’s right there beside you in the form of His Holy Spirit. He won’t impose himself on you. He welcomes you, though, and wants nothing more than to come to the foreground in your life, as an active, participating partner.

Not to control you. But to remain always beside you. And behind you, catching you. And ahead of you, leading you.

Creating with you, the story of your life. Creating, with you, an always improving and evolving storyline.