Hebrews 11:1 tells us that “faith is being sure of what we
hope for and certain of what we do no see” (NIV). If you are growing in your
faith, your personal relationship with God is becoming stronger and you are
becoming more and more certain that God is at work. There will be a deep trust
between you and your Creator and a powerful knowledge of His will for your
life. There will also be a hunger for constant communication with Him. Now, the
methods you use to develop this relationship will be as unique as you are, however,
there are a few things that are necessary for any relationship to be successful.
You need trust, knowledge of the other person involved and communication. Lots
of communication.
Let’s start with
trust. Trust is difficult in any relationship. You won’t feel like growing a
relationship if you don’t think you can trust the other party involved. This
holds true for our relationship with God as well. If you don’t think you can
trust that God has your best interests at heart, you will have trouble with
your faith. But the great thing is that God doesn’t expect us to trust blindly.
He has given us plenty of examples through His word of His trustworthiness. He
promised Abraham a son in his old age and He delivered. He promised to lead the
Israelites out of Egypt
And it doesn’t
stop in the Old Testament. Think about this: Would you trust someone who was
willing to give up His own son in order for you to have life? That’s what He
did. He sent the ultimate proof that He is worthy of our trust by sending his
son to die in our place. It is hard to grasp sometimes, but Jesus was a real,
live, flesh and blood man that felt hunger, thirst, pain and all the other
things we experience on a daily basis. Then He died a horrific, painful death
just because He loved us and wants our trust. In John 14:1 Jesus tells us, “Do
not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; also trust in me.” Take heart
friends, He wouldn’t command us to trust Him if He wasn’t worthy of our trust.
Knowledge of
God’s will for your life can also help deepen your relationship with Him. How
does God provide us with that knowledge? He gives us His word. Literally. The
Bible is full of instruction on how God’s wants us to live our lives, and if we
are the Christians we profess to be, we will seek this knowledge on a regular
basis. In John Ortberg’s book titled “The Me I Want to Be” he reminds us that
“only God knows your full potential, and he is guiding you toward that best
version of yourself all the time.” God wants us to know what his will for our
life is and He will guide us into that place if we are willing to go. All we
have to do is spend time in His word, trust His guidance, and ask Him to keep
us on track.
That brings us to
communication. Sometimes, communication can be the hardest part of a
relationship. I think this is especially true in our relationship with God. He
doesn’t respond in the typical way, does he? We have to learn to listen for
God’s voice throughout our day. Sometimes He will respond directly to us through
his word and we know it’s Him. Other times He will respond through someone
else, through a situation we are dealing with or maybe even a book we are
reading. Regardless of how He responds, if you are not actively listening and
watching for His response, you will miss it. Growing this part of your
relationship may seem the hardest. How do you find time in your busy day to talk
to God? And how do know that you haven’t missed his answer? The demands of your
job and home life may make you feel like you don’t have the proper time to
spend communicating with God. While it is important to spend some quiet time
alone with God everyday, that doesn’t mean that He won’t value the short, seemingly
broken conversations you may have with Him during your busy day. A quote from
Thomas Kelly’s book “A Testament of Devotion” sums up this concept beautifully:
“There is a way of
ordering our mental life on more than one level at once. On one level we may be
thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting all the demands of external
affairs. But deep within, behind the scenes, at a profounder level, we may also
be in prayer and adoration, song and worship and a gentle receptiveness to
divine breathings.”
Moses’ words to
the Israelites serve as a reminder to us all, “Now choose life, so that you and
your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his
voice and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life…” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20).
Make the Lord your life, and He will not fail to lead you if you hold to his
teachings, trust him and listen to his voice.
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