It’s been a while since I have written. In some part it has been because I have had a few technical difficulties, it appears I am further behind the times than I realized. The other part is because I have been on quite a journey recently. I have learned so much that I am sure that I couldn’t fit it all into one session here, but I am sure you will see the bits and pieces here and there throughout the next several entries.
One such lesson has stemmed from
the idea that I have made my relationship with God very empirical. To try to explain this, it is the idea of a
kingdom. Many of our relationships with
God would be similar to having a conversation with someone in a medieval time
and asking the random peasant if they had ever met the King. The answer would something along the lines of
knowing they had a king but had certainly never met Him. After all, why would He come down amongst the
peasants?
Indeed.
Our King did come here.
…but in my interaction with Him, do
I act like it?
I have recently uncovered a more “Abba/Father”
vein in my journey.
This doesn’t make Him any less a
King, but it actually makes me more His son.
I classified myself as a peasant in
the grandeur of all that is God (this Father view has also opened my eyes in
that department). It is easy to do. We can look at Isaiah and see how we may
react in His presence. We may “melt” in His
glorious presence. However, we are also invited into His presence now through
His Spirit. We are invited into this
relationship that He has built to connect Creator with the creation.
That is not the distant king
philosophy, but I get stuck there sometimes.
I don’t want to forget or lead
astray that God’s holiness is in any way lessened by our ability to come close
to Him. However, I do want anyone who
may struggle with this to avoid attempting to draw closer to God, or be
hindered in any way, because we feel unworthy.
Grace.
Or don’t we believe that?
When Christ taught us to pray, how
did He start out?
“Our Father…”
I don’t think I really viewed Him
as this loving Father, but it certainly changes my perspective. I mean, I talk about it a lot, but do I apply
it? Do I really believe it? Do I act upon that as I pray to Him? Are my prayers more like a report to the
king? Or a conversation with Dad?
When I interact with my daughter,
sometimes she is sitting there and talking to me (kind of at me since she is
almost 3), I stop her and say, “Come here.” And I just wrap my arms around her
and say, “I just need a hug, I just want you to be close.”
I think I missed this…and still
catch myself talking at Him.
My God is the King, and He is my
Father. I am His son, made so by
Christ. So when I talk to Him, there are
certainly times I address Him as the King, there are also times I just need my
Father to hold me.
If nothing else, I hope this would
challenge you to think and talk to God (whether you are an avid pray-er or not)
in a deeply loving and natural way. I
know there are those that would disagree with me…but I have found a deep,
wonderful, and lasting peace in my time with Him because I have realized that
He is the King, but I am no peasant, I am His child.
"I think we would more clearly see His Kingdom from a place closer to His vantage point as His children than from the vantage point of a peasant."
