A Really Personal Relationship With God

Personal relationship with God….we toss that phrase around so flippantly.  Have you really thought about what that means?  Think about your other personal relationships:  parents, siblings, spouses, children, friends.  You know these people.  You rejoice when they rejoice.  You hurt when they hurt.  You would move heaven and earth to do something for them in most cases.  What about God?  You know the term relationship implies reciprocal affection.  As believers, we are not just “fans” of a great God; we have a relationship with Him.  He is our Father.  It’s hard for me to fathom that, really.

Lately, I’ve been meditating on what it really means to have a personal relationship with God.  Sadly, I haven’t always lived in that reality.  This may seem a bit disjointed but I wanted to highlight a few “a-ha” moments for me. 

As I’ve thought about this, I recall the first time it really hit me that God cares about me, Kelly, personally.  I was in high school working on an assignment for Bible class.  We were studying through the gospel of John.  John 17 is known as Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer”.  This is just before Judas betrayed Him.  (I encourage you to go read the entire thing….you’ll find yourself backing up a couple of chapters just to get context.)  The verse that jumped out at me was John 17:20.  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.  Do you see that?  He (Jesus) was praying for His disciples and those believers that would remain, and for them also which shall believe on me through their word.  We are those that believed through their word!  God’s divine plan is for His gospel to be spread personally.  He was praying for you and me that night!  Doesn’t that just give you chills all over??  Maybe it’s just me, but it makes me want to shout or something! 

Fast forward a few years….ok, ok, a lot of years!  A couple of summers ago, we had the awesome opportunity to visit the Creation Museum in northern Kentucky.  (It’s actually very near Cincinnati, OH.)  I know that’s not really “on the way” to anything for most of you, but if you ever have the chance to go, GO.  It is AMAZING!!  Anyway, they have a very, very nice planetarium there.  They show different things, and I don’t even remember the official name of what we saw, but I’ll do my best to describe it to you.  It was life-changing.  In case you’ve never seen something like this, let me explain briefly.  It’s like watching a space movie on the ceiling.  They had really comfy chairs that reclined all the way back. Before it even started, I told the kids that no matter how much it felt like they were moving, they were going to be sitting in these chairs the whole time.  My little pep talk did not keep Zane from leaving marks on my arm from his holding on for dear life!  Anyway….we started out seeing an aerial view of the Creation Museum.  The camera would zoom out farther and farther explaining how earth relates to the atmosphere, moon, solar system, galaxies, universe, etc.  Of course, it didn’t take long before we couldn’t even see earth anymore.  Then our solar system disappeared….then the Milky Way…..you get the idea.  All I could think about while watching this was how the God that spoke this vast expanse into existence loved ME enough to send His Son to die for ME.  Tears streamed down my face as the reality of just how personal my great God is hit me.

Fast forward to now.  These past few months, I have really been struck with just how necessary it is to maintain that personal relationship with God.  Yes, He saved me, but it doesn’t stop there.  I need Him to be involved in every thing I do.  Every decision. Every hurt. Every question. Every joy. Every thing.  I often think of the Elizabeth Elliot quote that I’ve shared before:  “How to keep a quiet heart?  Put your whole trust in a God who is rational, personal, loving, and completely in charge of the whole universe and every tiniest detail of our lives.”

There is nothing about my circumstances that God doesn’t know.  He orchestrates each of our lives and circumstances together.  Loving and caring for each of His children personally. 

I find that I look at everything so differently.  I get so excited when I read passages from the Bible or hear messages that illustrate how personal God is.  I know that often I am guilty of categorizing the people that I read about in the Bible as “different” or somehow “special”.  These dear people whose lives are recorded for us, are just that – people.  I’m sure that they never thought of themselves as “ultra-spiritual”.  I wonder if any of them even know what God wrote about them.  The personal God of the Bible is the very same personal God that we serve today.  That is so exciting to think about!

It’s Christmas.  Think about the Christmas story in light of how personal God was to Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, Simeon, Anna, the men from the East, even King Herod.  Think about how the coming of Jesus to earth has affected you personally.

Galatians 4:4-7 - But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Merry Christmas!