A "You" Shaped Spot in God's Heart

What makes you feel closest to God?

Is it when you are praying? when you are listening to music? when you are caring for someone who is sick? when you are walking alone in the woods? when you are reading your bible? listening to an inspiring message or story ? when you are sharing your faith with someone?
Maybe you have never considered this question …but if you do and you discover the answer it could revolutionize your walk with the Lord .
Finding that special place where you feel closest to God – is where you draw your strength and then you take that strength into all other areas of your life. To use a rather crude parallel it is like you need the gas station to fill your car with gas so that it can take you where ever you want to go. Ignore the gas stations, you will be in trouble… no longer able to drive in comfort , you would have to walk in your own strength.

We can look at other people and see what their relationship with God looks like on the outside. There have been people in my life that have made me want what they have … but I could not have ‘theirs’. I had to find my own , as do you ! God is sooooo neat ! He has no cookie cutter people …family resemblances to His Son, yes – but each child of God is unique and has a special place close to His heart so distinctly ‘you-shaped’ that no one else will ever fit there.
I love the song, “I come to the garden alone…” It speaks of this intimate place where no one else can experience what you experience there with God.

For me , nothing makes me feel as close to the Lord as when I discover a new truth or a fresh understanding from God’s word. It makes me feel as though I am sitting as His feet and looking up into His face , eager to hear His every word. And second is to have the opportunity to share that truth , either in print or in word, with someone else.
I will confess something …. even though I have discovered my secret place with God… the distractions of this world and human weakness…. have over and over again pulled me away… until I suddenly recognize that I am no longer as victorious or happy in my relationship with God and I have to return to being faithful in my special place with Him. I see the picture in Revelation where Jesus is standing outside of our heart’s door , knocking. We think it was rude to leave Peter standing outside knocking …. but how often are we guilty of busying ourselves with the cares of life and we don’t even hear Jesus knocking on our heart’s door asking to come back in. I know I have been guilty .
But when I am faithful to draw my strength from my secret communion with God… my whole life is affected because it is then impossible to do anything and not be aware of Him close by.

I am so enjoying writing for this blog ! and I am very aware that only what is of God will be blessed !
But sometimes I run ahead, and I think.. Oh I should do a post on that ! and I try to write it out ..and it doesn’t flow.. I try something else and that doesn’t come together either. Then I realize what I am doing … praying the common prayer of today , “Lord, I am going to do this, and that … and go here and there… and I want you to bless it !!”
No, it does not work that way !
I need to become quiet and pray, “Lord , you give me the thoughts and ideas and help me to express them to the best of my ability !”
And I am amazed how quickly He answers that prayer. This post is an example. I had just finished publishing my last post and was on my way upstairs to have some tea with my husband before I went to go lie down – (someone gifted me with their ‘cold germs’) -- and as I climbed the stairs I asked , Lord what shall I write about next ? and instantly the thoughts I am expressing here came to mind and I couldn’t wait to come back to my computer to write them out before they melted into all the other thoughts swirling around in my head !!

We short change God in so many ways… often not consciously , but thoughtlessly. We think of God having human limitations – He is too big and holy to understand the mundane details of my life – I’m not important enough for Him to care about my day – my little troubles or cares are too small for Him to bother with .
No !! a thousand times No!!
Our God is sooo big He has the time for 24/7, one-on-one with each of His children. Isn’t that amazing? He wants to be a part of our day , our smallest activities , our every thought ! And spending time in our own special place with Him gives us the assurance and confidence that He does indeed walk close beside us.
(Just to clarify here…I am talking about having the kind of closeness with God that the bible characters had.. like Enoch , who walked with God, or Moses who spoke face to face with God, or Abraham who was his friend…. I am not going anywhere near the silly extremes that we hear about, such as the lady I heard of last week who does not get out of bed in the morning until God tells her to. God does not unplug our brain when He comes into our life, nor are we to stop discerning and checking what we hear or believe, testing everything against His written word which He will never contradict! )
But I do believe that God is interested in the details of our life and we can talk to Him about them, in the same way we would if He were physically walking beside us.

I ask God for help or advice in so many little everyday things and He always has an answer. The more you listen to His voice , the more familiar it becomes !
I think the greatest deterrent to ‘walking with God’ is the noise that we have in our life. There is so much that distracts us, the TV, the radio, the MP3 players, iPods or cell phones , stereo systems , computers, lap tops, hand held computer games - we are continually surrounded by noise. I know our younger generation, especially , seems addicted to noise…. what a clever ploy of the enemy to scream so loud in our ears so that we are distracted from hearing God.
We need to shut it all off more often and rediscover the joy of stillness, hearing ourselves think and listening for the still small voice of God.

So back to my original question… I challenge you to find your special place if you have never thought about it before in quite this way…. don’t try to be like someone else… God created you ‘one of a kind’ ! and His fellowship with you will be exclusive. We see God’s incredible diversity in nature…( did you know there are 16,000 different species of bees?) What has made us think that He wants us all to be the same?
To have countless Christians all reflecting the image of Christ – but each in his/her own unique personal expression will be the glory of God through all eternity !!