Perspective

Recently I've been having some good time with God. I've been spending more time in prayer and more time in His Word, and its been a blast. I have truly enjoyed spending time in the presence of God Almighty.

As I've been enjoying some good God time lately something kind of surprising has happened. Actually, it's not all that surprising at all when I think about it. It's just that I hadn't anticipated it happening. But, as I've been spending more time with God, I've realized that things that sometimes worry me haven't seemed as that big of a deal. Don't get me wrong, there are still challenges that I face and situations that only God can handle. It's just that in the past these things have seemed like a much bigger deal than they do now.

I suppose that's what perspective does for you though. The closer I get to the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, the smaller everything else seems. I mean really, what are my problems compared to the God of the universe? I guess that's why Paul encourages to always rejoice, because there is nothing that is bigger than God.

Wonder

One of the joys that I've discovered in my first year and a half or so of being a dad, is watching my son take in the world around him. He can be fascinated with the littlest of things. I don't get all that excited every time I see a car, but my son proudly says "car" whenever one's in sight. Likewise, whenever he see's a vehicle with a light on top (fire truck, police car, ambulance, tow truck) he proudly lets us know by saying "woo woo." Of course, there's also excitement with animal crackers, drums, or his pacifier. Anything and everything is a reason to explore and be filled with wonder.

As I've been thinking about my son, I've also thought about what our attitude should be like when it comes to God. Shouldn't we be filled with awe and wonder when we come before God Almighty? After all, we can never exhaust God. Perhaps that's why Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me"? Children don't take things for granted. They get excited with the familiar, and they don't get bored with what they know.

What would life be like for us if we desperately and passionately sought after God? What would life be like if we approached God with child-like wonder? What would life be like if ??? Hey, I know, let's find out.

Prayer

Ok, so I guess I'm not really a blogger. My wife is a blogger, and a good one at that. Every Wednesday she writes a blog. I on the other hand, do not blog very faithfully. I've never been good at doing things like keeping a journal or anything like that. But, the last couple of weeks I've really been processing some things and so I thought it might just be good for me to get some of that out.

Two weeks ago we (my wife and I along with some friends) attended a church conference. The focus of the conference was reaching our culture. It really was a missions conference with the US and Canada as the mission field. One of the focuses of the conference was on prayer. I must confess that I have not always spent a lot of time in prayer, but this is an area where God has really been speaking to me and leading me lately. I am starting to crave time in God's presence. Not pounding God with request after request after request, but simply time with God speaking to Him and, more importantly, allowing Him to speak to me.

In the midst of this journey there was a service at the conference that was very different from what I've experienced before. People flooded forward for prayer, for healing, for simply a blessing from God. Based on how I've grown up there was a part of me that wanted to say, "This is charismatic, this isn't Nazarene." But I felt checked not to make that judgment. While it was very different to me, I was reminded that God is far bigger than my understanding of God. I also thought of the statement from Gamaliel in Acts 5 "If their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourself fighting against God." In thinking of this I was reminded of the fact that many affirmed fruit of the ministry of the man that preached that day. I was also reminded of how we rejoice when we hear stories from the mission field of people being healed and restored and touched by God in an instant. We praise God when we hear those stories but when we encounter them face to face we feel uneasy. Why is that?

I'm realizing once again that God is far bigger than I am. I am humbled by this, and also excited about the possibility of getting to know far more of whom God is. That is why I long to be with God, to spend time in His presence, and to be molded more and more into His image so that I can reflect His glory more and more (2 Cor. 3:18). That is my desire and my prayer.