Intimacy

Over the past few days, there has been a speaker at GCU named Josh Riebock who has spoken at the chapel services. Something he said at theGathering Tuesday night has stuck with me. He spoke on the idea of having intimacy, having a real, deep, connected relationship, with God. What does it look like to have intimacy, true intimacy, with my Father? As it should, this has gotten me thinking about my own life and where I stand with Him.

As I evaluate my own life, I've begun to realize that I am lacking in the department of true connectedness with Him. I either am simply catching Him at a moment's notice before moving on to the next task or I'm drowning out those silent times with noise. Maybe it's just me but I find those silent times a bit uncomfortable. It might be because I know if I truly listened, I would be shaken by what I hear... Whatever the reason, I realize that my level of relationship with God is low.

Let's look at a real relationship, shall we? In a healthy relationship, one of the key features is time. The two parties spend time together; real time that is not rushed or forced. They simply exist together. A relationship is not built off of a few minutes here and there. It is built from taking time to be in each others' presence. Another key feature of a healthy relationship is communication. All of the talking is not done by one person. Both parties need to be sharing. And both need to be listening. One can talk, but it becomes fruitless if the other is not taking in what is being said.

Sadly when I look at my relationship with God, this is what I see. I'm taking no time whatsoever to be in the Master's presence. When I am taking time out to simply be with Him, I am the one talking. I'm constantly sharing what I want to be known and then leaving it that. True, He wants to hear from me, be it big or little. Yet, He has so much more that He wants to tell me. A great thought presented by Josh dealt with our perception of approaching God. He looked at it from the view of a master and a servant. When have you ever seen or heard of a servant who approached his master and addresses him nonchalantly. The servant would walk in and quickly say, "Oh, sorry, sir. I got caught up in my own affairs. I hope all is well with you. Later." I personally don't think the servant would last very long with that attitude. Instead, a servant enters his master's presence and then waits. He will wait for however long until the master has dismissed him. There may be long stretches of silence, yet the servant will continue to wait patiently. With this in mind, I have only one response. Boy, do I suck as a servant...

So, I suppose my thought right now is this. Seek that intimacy with God. Seek that gut-wrenching, heart-pounding, nerve-wracking, life-shattering, all-encompassing love which comes from sharing in true, unrelenting intimacy with the Most High. God wants that intimacy. He's rather stubborn when it comes to a relationship with His children. He'll keep pursuing, even if we don't see it. Just... don't leave Him waiting. I do that far too often...

Peace.