Author | Speaker | Encourager

Sherri'sBlog

How Do We Make Our Time With God Meaningful?

Light (1)You are liked by the One who spoke light into existence.

But He’s busy (we often think) and we’re busy, right? We might carve out a morning devotional. Read, pray, try to throw up more praise and gratitude than pleas for help or complaints.

But do we connect?

If we see ourselves as insignificant in the scope of all that God has on his plate…wars, famine, poverty, the sex trade, addictions, politics…then we might not fully understand the depth of his desire to spend time with us. One-on-one.

Does that scare us? Maybe a little? To imagine the gaze of Almighty God on sin-struggling and doubt-filled me.

But do we see ourselves the way He does? Are we looking through His lens? I’m don’t think so. At least for my own life. I’m wired in a way to see what is wrong, what’s broken and what’s not functioning properly. And when I do that without love, grace and hope in the process, I come under self-condemnation and shame.

And if we use a lens of negativity toward ourselves and others, our connection with God suffers.

We all have that negative friend. The one who can’t see anything good in her marriage, her job, her kids, other  people’s kids. And that doesn’t touch on the wider circle of politics and social issues.

What is it like to spend time with someone who doesn’t see life, breathe hope, belief for the best in herself or the world around her? It’s a downer.

So my question is, how does our own brand of negativity or self-criticism affect our ability to connect with our Creator?

I think many of us long for more, but don’t know how to get there with God. Maybe we don’t know how to hear His voice or we can’t hear Him well through the chatter in our minds. I love what Bill Johnson of Bethel Church says regarding the bible, “Read until He speaks.”

I wonder how our intimacy with the Lord would be impacted if we woke up each morning with the intention of practicing awareness of His presence. He says He never leaves us nor forsakes us (Heb. 13:5).

I love this verse (Zeph. 3:17):

“The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.”

There is so much in that passage that reveals his deep love and delight in us. And we don’t lose his love or his papa’s heart for us. Ever. When we mess up, we repent and receive the forgiveness He has for us and get restored back to who we were created to be. It is simple. The lies of the enemy are what make it seem hard.

children-1149671_640 (2)And that is part of the process of going deeper with Him. Learning the truth of His longing to know us more intimately and for us to know Him. There are so many ways we can learn to know and relate to Him. They (the Trinity) are Father, Teacher, Comforter, Provider, Healer, Helper, Counselor, Friend…if we took one facet of who He is and started relating to Him along that path, what would we discover about His character and who He is to us from that part of His personality?

Awareness of His presence. A warm papa’s embrace to comfort and help and guide us through the day.

Prayer

Lord, give me the eyes to see as you do. To love well and to love deeply all those you’ve created, including myself. Deepen my grace and acceptance for myself and the situations I can’t control. I want to discover who You want to be to me. Lead me into deeper waters of relating to You. In Jesus’ name, amen.


Pictures via Pixabay

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