Mom Heart Moments #196

Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.

ONE MORNING AS WE SAT AT breakfast together, Joy said, “You know, social media just can’t substitute for a real person. You can see words or a picture, but you can’t see the movement of a nervous gesture, or smell the perfume of someone, or look into their eyes, or hear the tone of their voice. There is no substitute in a relationship for the real thing.”

It struck me as she talked that it is the same with God. You can’t just read words on a page, sit stiffly in a pew once a week while pondering what you are going to have for lunch, or read a five-minute blog post and imagine you have a healthy relationship with Him.

You can’t just read God’s Facebook profile and suppose you can be close to His heart. To be truly near to Him —understanding His heart, believing He really loves you, experiencing His personality —requires hours and hours of real life in His presence, knowing His words through the voice of Scripture, and then talking to Him, pouring out your heart in prayer. It takes engaging with Him in the privacy of your own room, all alone, believing He hears, and living through years of seeing His faithfulness.

If I am to find that place of quiet rest, it must be as a result of being with Him day in and day out, and then coming to better understand Him through all the moments of my life, through what He has made, what He has said, what He has taught me through His Holy Spirit, and what I have learned from being with other godly people who are filled with His attributes. It is a real live relationship —exciting, mysterious, an adventure. To be close to His heart will always bring confidence, peace, and security.

Have you spent enough time with God lately to feel you truly are growing to know Him more and more? Think about how you might build your relationship today.