Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:12-13
It’s easy to think that God doesn’t need anything. He’s God. He created the universe in six days. He is sovereign over all things. “He changes times and seasons; He sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning” (Daniel 2:21). What does God need from us?
There are plenty of reasons why we need God. We need salvation. We need assurance. We need answers to prayer. We need help! Sometimes we treat God like a vending machine or a short-order cook. “I ordered this over easy not over hard.” We pursue God in a crisis. But, we basically ignore Him when things are going well.
St. Augustine gave this insight: “God thirsts to be thirsted after.” Just like a young man pursues his beloved, God wants to be pursued. But often we don’t treat God like we’re young and in love with Him. We tend to treat God like “the wife.” He’s always there. Why does God need to be pursued? How do you pursue someone who is always there? Now, we have lessons to learn about both God and marriage.
How do you pursue someone when you were dating? (Can you remember back that far?) You spend time with them. You give them your attention. You talk to them. You listen to them. You just hang out with them. You focus on them. You think about them when you’re apart.
So, let’s go back and look at that paragraph again, and replace “them” with God:
You spend time with God. You give God your attention. You talk to God. You listen to God. You just hang out with God. You focus on God. You think about God when you’re apart. (Okay, God is omnipresent, so that last one will be a challenge).
How can you practically connect with God? He wants to be pursued.
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This has been a tough one for me. Often the fine line between spending time with God and spending time daydreaming gets blurred. My thoughts tended to drift away from "holy" things toward the day-to-day cares that seemed so important to me at the time. This happened so often, I began to feel guilt and after a while began to question whether in fact I had a 'real' relationship with God at all since I couldn't seem to stay focused on 'holy' topics.
ReplyDeleteI like to think about nature as a pretty good place to look for God. I find peace with the idea that most people look, act, worship, and think differently than me when I consider the variety found in the animal and plant worlds.
In a similar vein, I look at the parent-child relationship as another good way to find God. How often do my children sit down with me just to talk to me about 'parent-ly' things? Yeah, right. My son, sitting down next to me to tell me how much he admires me, what a good job I'm doing running my job, how much he likes the house rules, etc. Ain't going to happen. The whole idea is so foreign to him (and to me) it makes me wonder if my concept of what God wants t hear from me may be flawed to the core.
When my kids decide to visit me (never as often as I'd like), I want to hear about them and how things are going with them. I don't want them telling me about my life, I already know all about that. I want their thoughts, cares, likes & dislikes. So, what about that pictures leads me to think God wants me to sit with him and restrict my conversations to "God-related" topics? I have come to believe he just wants to hear what's on my mind, even if it is nothing more important than who I think did a good job on American Idol.
It's all part of my relationship with God, to allow him into every part of my life, withholding nothing. I'm reminded of how much I desire to NOT become 'oversaved' as in this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maqOpMXnDjQ