Have you ever felt like you were surrounded by the things of God—the programs, people, and praise of God—but couldn’t find God anywhere? People smack-dab in the middle of Christian organizations sometimes forget about God. Pastors and members of churches. Administrators in parachurch ministries. Children in Christian homes. Students in Christian schools. It’s much easier than we think to lose our sensitivity toward God in a Christian environment. When we’re around His people regularly, talking His language, watching Him work, enjoying His blessings, we can start to take Him for granted. In short, we can loosen our grip on God while we’re handling all the things that pertain to Him.

This problem is nothing new. Who had more of God than the Israelites in Moses’ day? They were a people selected by grace to be God’s own…freed from Egypt’s chains…rescued from Pharaoh’s army…sustained by God’s miraculous provision in the wilderness. But they were ungrateful, hardened, and faithless. As cold and dark toward God as charred sticks in a doused campfire. Their Great Deliverer, in their eyes, had become a cruel taskmaster.