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.