The answer is a Person
I have had several aha! moments over the past few weeks. There has also been a definite change in the winds that pass over my spirit. There have been times of intense meditation, and also lazy drifting in my mind. I have slacked in some areas that are normally very rigid, and experienced an increased determination in others. You know what I’ve discovered? It doesn’t really matter the method. My hope is a Person. Now, my personality would never allow an all-out revolt of routines, schedules and lists. My kind Father has shown me what has been lacking in all of my tryings…and it’s a grievous omission on my part. I have been looking to make the habits of grace, the disciplines, and the methods an ultimate framework for success. And honestly, it starts out innocently enough, but turns into bondage. I become a prisoner of the ways and lose The Way.
I was talking with a friend, and we talked about the way of our flesh being linear. A straight line. Get it done, and you can see the path every step of the way. By contrast, the walk of the Spirit looks like wild over-grown forest and you have to kind of dance your way through. A few markers here and there, but much less straight forward and a whole lot of enjoying the scenery. Every now and then you happen on someone else taking this path less traveled, and you are welcomed as a companion. And the Spirit between you does a miracle in His way of knitting you together, and you know you’ve experienced something holy.
More and more, I look over my life and see the miracle of His life in mine, and I give thanks and praise for the realization. This week He told me to be more diligent in the recording of these realizations. This is a journey worth documenting. More importantly, it’s HIM that’s worth writing about. I won’t ever graduate out of the need I have for Him. While the rest of the world wants to become more independent, more individual, more isolated and less accountable, His way goes a different direction. The kingdom calls for sons and daughters who will depend on the One, conform to the One, live in community with the One and give Him the entire account with love and grace, mercy and peace. Search my heart! Know me! Try me!
How do I know my Father better? I ask Him. I can read the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I can look to see how He perfected the lives of Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Isaac, Moses and on through Elijah, David, Isaiah and on it goes. Eventually I must learn that all of these lives are swallowed in Jesus. He lived an ordinary life, and He did it perfectly. Jesus is the image of the invisible God. He showed the world what it meant to be in union with the Father and love Him with all He had while also loving His neighbor as Himself. While His life had a linear component to it, He never sacrificed the people around Him for His to-do list. He moved in and out of crowds freely, and at the promptings of the Spirit. He sought time alone with His Father and allowed His schedule and speeches to be motivated by His Father’s will. If I will humble myself and ask Him for the illumination of relationship, He grants it.
The most exciting part of receiving my Father’s answer, is the watching and waiting for how He will choose to answer. His ways are varied, specific and unique. I am often guilty of looking for an old way when He is making a new way! His voice remains constant, and yet His gifts are as creative as He determines. Each one of His gifts has me thanking the Giver, and this brings me further into Christ in my experience and understanding. It isn’t that Christ ever gives me more of Himself, but that my awareness of what I have in Him (and through Him and by Him) is growing. This growth awareness results in maturity that Christ promises through His Spirit. He began the good work and He will see it to completion. There is nothing too hard for Him. He and the Father are One.
When I realize the answer to my deepest question is the Person of Jesus, I begin to relate to Him differently. He is not a set of rules, or a pattern of observances. He transcends time and needs nothing from me. I am free to wonder, ask, converse and listen as with a friend. He is creative in His relationship to His creation, and I think this may be where we try to reduce Him to a formula or a plan. When I have had a fresh encounter with Christ, I want to tell others. But maybe when others hear me talk about my experience, they see it as something to reproduce step-by-step rather than simply relating to Jesus as themselves. Think of how he met Jacob, Shadrach, Paul or John. Each one of those men are distinctly themselves, and yet, they each encountered Jesus as the Answer in radically different circumstances. Realizing He is ready to reveal Himself uniquely to each of His brothers and sisters should encourage us with a child-like expectancy as we ask to know Him.
