"I Value seeking to know God intimately through prayer, the Scriptures, and other spiritual disciplines as a main goal of life."Words and phrases like intimacy, knowing God, personal relationship etc... are really in vogue in a number of Christian circles these days, and I think that is a good thing. The essence of theology after all is the study of God's Person as He has revealed Himself to us through creation, the Scriptures, personal experience, and most importantly, Jesus of Nazareth. Unfortunately, I have not met many people who truly know God very well, or take the time or energy needed to invest in that knowledge.
What theologians call the Doctrine of Revelation is based upon the idea from the Scriptures that God must reveal Himself to be known by humanity. All of the human initiative in the world doesn't make Him any less elusive and He will only be found by those He draws. However, in this time of the gospel of Jesus Christ, God has demonstrated his goodwill toward us and summons us to come and believe in his Son. We are called to seek Him while He may be found.
I still remember when the veil was torn away in my life and the revealed, self-existent God came crashing in on my world. Oh what a day and season that was and is! I was shocked that God was truly personal and knowable. I couldn't keep my mouth shut. GOD WAS REAL AND EVERYONE HAD TO KNOW! As I soon discovered though, this knowledge of God was meant to be an ongoing process that required much seeking, knocking and asking.
This process of seeking God is often a hard and frustrating work just as my marriage relationship can be. I know He is supposed to be the initiator, but I have to admit it often feels like it's all up to me in this strange and mysterious courtship of God. God seems to love to play hide and seek while I fumble around in the darkness of this sin-fallen world listening for the faintest breath or rustling of His Presence to give His hiding place away.
This of course brings me to the big bad "D" word, DISCIPLINE. Yes, it takes discipline and the spiritual disciplines to finely hone my senses to God. Scripture reading, memorization, meditation, prayer, silence, solitude, service, fasting, night watches and various other methods employed throughout history by God's people have been effective tools in the seeking of God. Unfortunately, I don't really enjoy doing some of these things because I am not a very disciplined person. Not only that, but I am repelled by anything that feels like religious striving to earn God's favor.
Nevertheless, I have found that when I consecrate myself to God, not to earn anything, but to focus my faculties upon Him, He shows up and does some unveiling of Himself to my dull and dry soul. This unveiling impresses God's Presence and character upon my soul, which changes me and influences the people around me as well.
To know God is the greatest treasure and value a human being can desire. Knowing Him is by far the most worthy pursuit of life. God chased us down and caught us with His irresistible grace and love, so we must now join the chase and make the pursuit of God our life-long goal. Who knows, if we chase Him long enough, He may just catch us!
Isaiah 55:6 - Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.
Hi Pastor Doug! I don't usually post my real name online so I won't put my last name, but think Greg and Vicky's daughter and you'll know who I am. :-)
ReplyDeleteAs you probably can guess, I can relate totally to what you say here. This is an off the cuff reply (i.e. no thought has gone into it), so only my initial thoughts are coming here.
I find that there's this fine line between seeking and striving. I don't always successfully find that line. God says,"if you seek Me you shall find Me". I once did a word study on the word "seek” and I found such usages in Scripture as seeking lost animals and seeking to find someone (my favorite usage was in the Song of Solomon where the lady sought out her beloved up and down every street) and things of that nature. Basically, the idea is seeking UNTIL one finds... not giving up, determined to find . However, as you, I can find it pretty frustrating. If I'm not careful, it slides into religious striving.
It's tough for me to maintain the balance between seeking and striving... peace in God and hunger for God... I need God. I love God. I want more of God. I hear stories of people having deeper relationships with Him that I desperately long for. And I can get SO SO frustrated and impatient because I MUST HAVE GOD.
God said this to me a number of months ago. I don't always do the greatest job (like now) of remembering this or remembering to live it out, but God told me, “The journey is okay. Just be patient and joy in the journey. Seek ME, not a certain level of growth. There’s a difference. The things you want, I want more. Let Me grow you.” The times I am able to live that out are the times I find the balance between seeking and striving and I find peace even in the hunger.
Those are my off the cuff thoughts... :-)
God Bless!
I remember a time in my life, shortly after beginning my walk with God, when I became filled with an overwhelming desire to know God more. More specifically, that God would make Himself more real to me. So, I set out on a campaign of sorts, upon this theme and to this end.
ReplyDeleteWhat followed next, somewhat surprised me. The next couple of weeks unfolded a steady flow of confession, humility, and honesty; exposing all of my self unto my God. I opened up all to Him. Good, bad, and ugly. It was here at this point of emptiness and surrender that my God revealed Himself to me in a way that has permanently shifted my vision of who He is. You see, God is seeking the very same thing, of us, that we are seeking of Him. To be more real. Truly He longs for us to worship Him in spirit and in truth.-(John 4:24).
Indeed it takes the "D" word to know God. Yes, together we must discipline ourselves to take up the Word of God and pray. For it is then, that we will be challenged by what God is saying, and where He is leading. And it is then, that we will be invited to open up and reveal ourselves to Him; becoming real with Him. Surely then, He will become real to us.