What does it look like when I meet with God? Do I sometimes blow Him off because I am too busy? “Sorry God, just no time for you today. I need another hour of sleep and then I have lots to do.” Do I go through a routine that I designed to discipline myself to do ‘morning devotions’? I read so many chapters of the Bible. Yes, yes, I’ve read it before. I know what it says. I pull out my list of prayer requests and read through it. God be with this person. Heal that person. Give them what they want. And then rush into my day with no other thought of God and muscle through my activities whatever they are.
Jesus had much grace with the disciples as He instructed them in the years He spent with them. I think He has much grace for us too as we learn who He is and how to relate to Him. James and John wanted to be important in His kingdom. Philip struggled with trusting Jesus to come through. Peter thought he could handle it all until he found himself denying Jesus not once but three times! Somehow, when we come to the end of ourselves, we finally begin to look for Jesus.
The more I understand who God is, the more I get up in the morning with anticipation of our time together. The more I am overwhelmed by His love – that He would pay attention to me! The God who created the heaven and the earth and all that is in it would want to meet with me each day and share His heart with me! He has given me the privilege of praying – not so I can control the things happening around me, but so that I can join His heart for the people He cares about. He allows me to participate in the work He is doing!
“The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in Him!” Lamentations 3:22-24 Jeremiah pens these verses in the middle of lamenting being homeless and grieving all that he has lost. And following these verses, he expresses his hope that he has found in knowing God’s love. He is able to worship God in the most dire of circumstances. Paul and Silas worshiped God while sitting in prison because they knew they were loved.
God has invited us to seek Him and to desire to be in His presence. “In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.” Jeremiah 29:12-13 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8
God is not hiding from us. He is right here in our midst, inviting us to come, rest in Him, receive nurture and friendship, and be loved. Meeting with Him isn’t a discipline, it is a privilege and an act of love for each other! When I have truly given and received that love, I am free to love others well. I John 4-5 lay out a beautiful picture of what it means to be loved by God and how that effects the way we behave toward others. Our time of worship, listening, sharing, and receiving from God daily is so important to our relationship with God and it is what feeds our relationships with each other. I sure don’t want to miss that. Do you?
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