On Being Alone with God
I came across the following quote in my daily devotional reading this morning. And because our worship theme recently was boredom, it struck me in a particular way. Whether or not the author’s vision of heaven is correct, it got me thinking about our use of time and our perspective relative to God. So often we want God to understand how we feel, but how often do we try to understand how God might see things?
“ “If your heart takes more pleasure in reading novels, or watching TV, or going to the movies, or talking to friends, rather than just sitting alone with God and embracing God, sharing God’s cares and burdens, weeping and rejoicing with God, then how are you going to handle forever and ever in God’s presence with no TV, movies, or retreats? You’d be bored to tears in heaven, if you’re not ecstatic about God now!
How could God invite you to heaven, where the most exciting thing to do all day is gaze upon God’s glorious face, if you’re not in heaven right here on earth when you’re alone with God? Do you think that after you die, suddenly you’ll be in heaven and “presto!” all at once you’re not going to like worldly things anymore? All of a sudden you’ll love more than anything else just to hang out with God, when you couldn’t stand being alone with God even 20 minutes a day?””
Being alone with God - especially in our boredom and down time - can be such a precious gift. Developing an empathy with God from a divine perspective may be impossible – but to catch glimpses and partial views can help us to have a bigger heart for the problems of the world and a heightened sensitivity to the pain and suffering of others.
God is sad for the 84,000 + deaths (as of this writing) in the U.S. – but God’s concern doesn’t stop at national borders nor does God favor one country more than another – God’s compassion, mercy and love are for the whole world.
In a family with several children, the one who is most successful may think they are better than and more deserving than their siblings – but not in the eyes of the parents – each child may know different expressions of love from a parent – but they are all loved completely. So, it is with God – only more so!
There is a temptation to hear voices encouraging us to think that the number of deaths is normal or not that bad - and that as long as our family is safe and healthy everything is okay. But that doesn’t ease the pain and grief of family members and friends of those 84,000 people – each of whom had a name and a life just like all of us. And the number is approaching 300,000 world-wide. Each life a precious life and each one a child of God. I can only imagine the breadth of God’s heart of compassion. The Bible is full of crying and suffering, lament and anguish, sighs and longing. And the God of our parents and ancestors, and our God promises to be with us.
May these challenging times provide us a time to feel more and see more that connects us to the heart of God and to one another and to the world God has created. For as the Apostle Paul reminds us in I Corinthians 12:26,
“If one member suffers, all suffer together with it.”
In God’s Love,
Rev. Dr. David D. Young
Senior Minister