WINGS-The Journey

Our relationship with God is a journey.  Where are you at currently on this journey?   Please pick which analogy best describes the relationship between you and God right now.  

Potter/Clay      Shepherd/Sheep      Master/Servant      Father/Child      Friends       Lovers

Potter/Clay

            Isaiah 64:8 the first part of our journey is recognition that we are the works of God’s hands.  Most people in this part of the journey are awed by God’s ability.  We don’t ask Him what He is doing (Isaiah 45:9 and Isaiah 29:16) rather we marvel at what He has done.  We begin to look at things differently, recognizing His amazing work.  At this point in our relationship we typically don’t ask where we are going, or what He has planned, we are just thankful to be on the walk with Him, getting to know Him.  This is where we recognize that we aren’t the person in charge.

Shepherd/Sheep

            Isaiah 40:11 tells us that the Lord tends us like a shepherd.  This is the period of comfort and healing.  God carries us, the young lambs that are still learning how things work, what we are to do, what our role in the flock is, close to His heart.  He is protecting, comforting, and sheltering us.  This verse also tells us that he leads us GENTLY.  He isn’t forcing us one way or another, not pushing and pulling and dragging us.  At this stage He has shown us enough of who He is that we should want to follow where He is leading.

Ezekiel 34:12 He begins during this stage of our journey to heal the hurts the world has inflicted on us and we begin to learn to trust Him, to follow Him.   He tells us that He will rescue us from the darkness, from all the places that we were.  I don’t know about you but I have been in some pretty dark places in my life.  My heart was full of darkness.  Feelings of isolation, aloneness, unworthiness etc.  God rescues us from these scattered places and gathers us to him.

Mark 6:34 tells us that He has compassion on us because we had no shepherd.  (Matt 9:36 calls us harassed and helpless) and he began to teach…  We begin to learn who He is, how He sees us, what to do, etc. 

John 10:14 He KNOWS us, inside and out, our thoughts, fears, hopes, desires etc.  Now we finally start to know Him too!

Master/Servant

            Matthew 10:24-25a we begin in this stage of our journey to try to emulate God, to please Him

            John 15:15 tells us that we don’t know our master’s business, we still aren’t able to see the big picture but we see enough to know we want to be like Him. 

To get here we had to put in the time to get to know him, through prayer, study of His word, fellowship with other Christians.  Prayer is an important part of this process.  So important that we are told to pray morning, noon and night (Psalm 55:17).  Prayer allows us to talk with God, to draw closer to Him.

Father/Child

            Matthew 6:8 We begin to get more intimate with God, He, like earthly fathers, knows what we NEED.  This stage is more private and personal than previous stages.  He asks us to fast in secret for Him (Matthew 6:58) to pray in privacy just for Him (Matthew 6:6) to give secretly for Him (Matthew 6:3) 

            Ephesians 5:1 we are still imitators of Him, but our hearts have changed and we now imitate out of love for him as a child imitates her father. 

He wants to take care of us (Matt 7:11, Luke 12:32, John 16:23) defend us (Psalm 72:4).  We are precious to Him (matt 6:26) and He doesn’t judge us! (John 5:22)  Sounds like a proud Papa to me! 

We still look up to Him, respect Him, but our relationship has grown more intimate.  We run to God to protect us, heal our hurts, tells us that we are okay and still loved now.  I think about the relationship my kids have with Scott, how Hayli knows that daddy can do anything better than anyone else.  Ayden gets so excited when he comes home all she can do is shout for joy.  Jason goes to him when he needs something fixed or doesn’t understand how something works.  They know he loves them and will try to make time for them and try not to let them down.  Our relationship with God is so much better in that God can do everything better, can fix everything, won’t let us down and always has time for us!  He wants us to be close and personal.

Friends

            Proverbs 18:24b there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother

            John 15:14-15 “You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”  Jesus is speaking to his disciples here, and to us.   He tells us how to become His friend, obey his command.  Before this point we didn’t really understand what God’s “business” was.  However, by this stage of our journey we do understand.  We have learned through prayer and study.  At this point we are called friends, favored companions, attached to each other by affection.  This is truly a term of endearment.  The only other time the Bible refers to a person as a friend of God is in reference to Abraham. (James 2:23). 

            As you should well know, friendship doesn’t happen overnight.  It requires time to build, to grow, to become firmly rooted.  But our relationship journey doesn’t end here!  He wants even more than this.

Lovers

            Isaiah 62:5 God rejoices over us as a husband rejoices over his wife.  His heart throbs and swells with joy when we come to Him (Isaiah 60:4-5) He shows himself to you even when you didn’t want Him, when you scorned him He pursued you crying out “Here I am, Here I am” (Isaiah 65:1) Sounds like lovesickness to me!

            You see, you are special.  God WANTS your love.  Think about it.  The greatest command is to love Him with all your heart, all your soul and all you mind, everything in you.  He wants all of you just as a lover would.  But it isn’t one sided.  He has pursued you, He rejoices over you.  He is full of joy because YOU have come to Him.  Take a moment to really process that.  The God of the universe is in love with YOU!  You are truly special to him; no one else on earth can take your place in his heart.  He longs for you to feel the same way about Him.  He already knows you inside and out.  He wants you to want to know Him inside and out also.  This is what we were created for! 

            But to get to this stage of the journey you have to really know Him, to respect Him, to have spent time with Him.  Real love doesn’t come without these things, and neither will a real loving relationship with God.

Think about it.  If you never called your best friend would you still be best friends?  If you only spoke to your husband when you needed something would you have a good relationship?  How about if you only complained at him?  Didn’t bother to learn what makes him happy? Sad? If you repeatedly took advantage of him?  If you never said you were sorry?  Didn’t bother to learn about their life before you stepped into it?  Would he feel loved?  How can we expect a real, close relationship if we don’t invest our own hearts?

We are ALL in need of that feeling of being loved, wanted.  We all want a place to feel safe and protected.  It is our prayer that our meetings help us to move towards a relationship of total love and devotion to the all sufficient God.