Monday, March 5, 2012

Getting Closer To God


I’ve often thought about how I would summarize what we have experienced on this adventure.  The time here has been so stimulating that narrowing it down to one thing gets you thinking.  Something I've always wanted to do but didn't know how to even get started.  Well I've learned a thing or two here about the subject.

So hold on to your chairs, but I have had a breakthrough in learning that allows me to say with certainty that... “The way to get close to God is to get closer to God.” 

I have often heard the phrase that God wants all of me not just part of me.  We have been reading “Jesus Calling” each day and she pretty much says the same thing, i.e., live in His presence.  Take Him with you. 

Nice concepts but I have always struggled with the “what do I go do?”  What does it mean for me to really follow, to really obey, to put my trust in God, to not follow the ways of the world but to go God’s way, to be in peace with Him, etc.  Does it mean to become a monk?  Does it mean to sell all I have and move to Niamey?  Does it mean no more chocolate?  What does it mean to “really” give your self to God?

I've come to know it means more than just my asking Him into my heart.  This is a crucial first step but it is only a step.  There’s more than going to Church to sing my heart out, hear something I will forget to apply tomorrow, and feel good inside.  I’ve been there Sunday after Sunday and it just doesn’t fill the bill of turning my life over to Christ.  My heart yes, but not my life.  It’s a necessary, essential part to be sure, but it doesn’t satisfy the idea of making God the active center of your life.  There is too much life outside of church for that to be “all there is.”

I think it means more than a personal retreat where you "get in touch with God."  As good as these times are they don’t last.  Mountain top experiences, like going to a Young Life Camp, are the best but as we always said, “You have to come back down at some point.”  The retreats and camps are experiences, great experiences, but they aren’t letting God run your day to day life.

God has given Sally and me a gift.  He has put us in a place, under totally unusual circumstances, given us time to reflect, and shown us a brief glimpse of what it means to be God’s.  Don’t get me wrong, I said glimpse.  I don't have any where near the whole picture but we have learned things here.  Let us try to share them with you.

So, what do you do if you want to get closer to God?
1.     Be in a place where you are with God.  That certainly doesn’t have to be Africa, it could even be a place of hurt and sorrow, but it does have to be a place where you take God with you.  It can be anywhere.  You can’t get closer to God if God isn’t with you.  No matter where you go, make it a habit of bring Him along… literally... everywhere.

Our coming to Niger was a totally different experience for us, not because we were in a foreign place but because we believed God brought us to Niger.  We were here on His agenda not ours.  That fact changed the whole picture.  Each day we wondered, what does God want us to do today?  We could ask that question because we didn’t know what we were going to do.  What we did was up to God, not us.  And did He deliver.  He has taken us to places we never dreamed of going.  At home we often find that our activities are so programmed that God has to get on our schedule. 

I pray that God will give us the freedom to do what He wants us to do when we get home, not what we want to do.  And I ask Him to help us consciously make a habit out of bringing Him with us 24 hours a day, everyday. 

2.   Be in a place where the circumstances are fresh and stimulating.  Actually the circumstances don’t need to be so different it is the way you look at them that needs to be fresh.  I don’t think God can act very well when we are in our rote ruts.  When everything is familiar, comfortable, and expected then it seems God is too. 

Things are so different here.  Our antennas are buzzing.  We are bombarded with the weird, odd, and unfamiliar.  We can’t speak the language, we don’t know the customs, and we aren’t in control.  Since we can’t do things ourselves, we have to look to God.  This is a great position to be in.  As I think about coming home I don't want to fall into my old thought patterns.  I want to look at everything in a new way and to do that each day.  

I pray that when we get home God will help us see situations, every situation for that matter, in new ways.  Help us to see people, parties, shopping, everything with fresh eyes.  Maybe even from God’s eyes.  Get us out of our mental ruts God.  Give us new eyes.  Train us to use our brains to see, think, and react with God’s view of the world.

3.   Be in an stimulating place where you have time to reflect.  Before you move on to the next thing, where was God in the last thing?  If He was with you then where was He?  What did He do?  If you don’t reflect, maybe He wasn’t there, but you know He was there because you brought Him.  So find Him.

Our unusual place here has had us constantly asking why are we here, what were we doing here, and what are we going to do next?  Trying to get answers to these questions kept bringing us back to God.  Reflecting on your life, looking for God, and expecting Him to take you in new directions is fun.  Taking time to reflect is not a burden: it is life in the fullest.  It is God’s way of drawing us closer to Him. 

Lord, stay in charge.  Let me see you at work in our lives.  Let us not get so busy, so ingrained in everyday life, and so in control that we can’t see You.  Make finding time to reflect a top priority for us because it gives us life.

4.   Be in an unusual place where you have time to reflect so that God can teach you.  God can’t teach you or be with you if you aren’t in a place where you are listening.  There are some places, some people, and doing some things that just keep God silent, out of the picture.  Don’t go there.  Don’t go to places of the world; go to the places of God.  This doesn’t mean churchy stuff, but it does mean going places that you know are places God would have you go.

Our life here has been so God centered.  We each have Bible study every week, Sally goes twice most weeks, we have prayer time every weekday with the staff at SIL, we listen to sermons Sunday morning and go to church Sunday night, we read Jesus Calling every morning and spend hours of each day reflecting on how God acted in our day.  We have had a Day of Prayer, a morning of prayer, and have prayed for safe travels for everyone who has arrived or left the Center.  We live at a Bible translation center so everyone is “into” the Bible in some way or another.  And then most important, we are among people who have given their lives in service to God.  We live with their faith, their commitment, and their ability to find God’s grace in all of life.  If they didn’t have it, they couldn’t possibly live here.  All this helps us build a habit of being with God.  All this churchy stuff doesn't mean that God isn't teaching us when we are out in everyday life too.  But living with it for 6 months has really helped keep Him foremost in our minds. 

I pray that we will not fall back into the ruts that keep us away from things that help us get close to God.  Keep us in prayer, in the Word, and with others who are seeking Him as well.  I know God wants us out in the world and I know He gets to pick the places we go and He gets to go with us but He also gets to prepare us before we go too.

      Getting closer to God is simply, and I use the word simply on purpose, building the habit of getting closer to God.  Being intentional.  The magic is in the working on it, not in the achieving it.  Getting closer to God isn’t one big decision.  It isn't a second conversion or a transformation.  It is the formation of new habits and new thoughts.  Working on it day to day is worth it because you know there is more to life than what the world has to offer. 

The way to get close to God is to get closer to God.  OK, maybe we don't know how to get closer to God but it sure seems like we've got some things to work on that we didn't have before.

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