Get Closer

I love my job.

I work in a coffee shop, slinging lattes, frappes and artery-hardening baked goods. It makes people smile, and in a way, I help fuel the productivity of this country by keeping countless souls awake at night. But, the thing that I love most about my job is the people I work with.

They are very young, very open minded, and very confused. Religion has confused a lot of us...older or younger. It's one of those "soap box issues" I have to be careful I don't drive into the ground here at Uplift!

But, I want to address the whole concept of Religion -vs- Relationship over the next few weeks and I want to start by sharing a story. I was working yesterday with an 18-year-old single mother who was, by her own admission, "saved, but not in a relationship with God."

Now, some of you reading , you will say, "How can you be saved and not be in a relationship with God?" It happens, same as it does in marriages everyday. People don't leave communication lines open, they harbor resentments and judge and refuse to forgive. We tend to deal with God in the same way we deal with people. Yes, if you admit it to yourself, you have cut off contact, harbored resentment, judged and refused to let God off the hook for what you perceived was unfair treatment or a bad call on His part.

I know. It's almost laughable to see that in print, but we do it everyday. Don't omit yourself from that statement. You have done it, and so have I. But, I digress...

I'm talking with her and she starts telling me that the relationship she is in keeps her from "having a close relationship with God". She is doing things she knows are contrary to what the Word teaches. She is willfully sinning and she chooses freely to do it. For her, the answer is simple: If you want a relationship with God, you have to stop doing what you're doing. It's just THAT EASY. She quite honestly answers me like this: "I want both."

And Jennifer just laughed.

She knows, you know, and I know that anything that trumps your relationship with God is, plainly put, an idol. It is one of those things Paul talked about that, "exalts itself against the knowledge of Christ". I've talked about those things before: strongholds.

My response to her was loving and straightforward. I said, "Baby Girl, " (anyone under the age of 22 is Baby Girl to me) "God will never stay on the back burner in your life. He might be there for awhile while you sow your oats or however you want to describe what you're doing, but He will get in your face about what you're doing."

"Yeah, I know. He's so angry at me right now, I bet. I can't feel Him anymore." She said. And I looked her square in her lovely face and said, "God's not angry at you."
Incredulous, she replied, "Of course He is!" I countered, "No, He's sad that you won't put Him first, but He isn't the least bit surprised by what you're doing. He knew that was going to happen when it happened. You didn't knock Him off His throne when you went into this thing. He did want you to make a better choice, though. And it grieves Him when we don't make better choices. But He's not angry at you."

She just looked at me, completely dumbfounded.

"What? You think that there's something you can do to make God love you less than He does? How arrogant of you!" And that did it. She looked at me and said, "What kind of God do you worship, Jennifer?"

I was more than happy to tell her that I worship a God who is both just and merciful. I worship a God who knows my end from my beginning and every rabbit trail I will wander down and every black hole I will get sucked into along the way. He provided me escape routes from those very things, just because He loves me and is determined to keep me on track. I told her of a God who doesn't love her when she only does things perfectly, but a God who loves her perfectly even when she is as messed up as a football bat! I was so happy to share with her the fact that she could do nothing to earn His love, nor could she do anything to stop His love. It is who He is, not what she does that determines His unending love for her...even in the state of living she is in right now.

She was smiling, her eyes shining wet with tears. "I love the way you explained that." She said, "That's the first time I ever understood the way God loves me. You make it sound so..." she paused, "...good."

And I was reminded of the Psalmists' challenge: "Taste and see that the Lord is good..." I gave her a taste of relationship instead of more of the bitter, hard to swallow religion she has fed on for most of her life.

I could only do that because I know where she is, and I know what lengths God went to so I would get it: He loves me because I am his, not because I DO anything. I act out of my love for Him, not to receive His love. I am a glad recipient of His love, daily, but He is good to me because HE IS GOOD...not because I am good. And that is freedom. That is the liberty we stand fast in, the liberty He gave up His life for. To be able to walk with unsteady steps in this chaotic world and know that when we fall, He is there with His hand outstretched, not His fist raised is the most freeing feeling in the universe! It is precious!

As believers, we must put our relationship with Our Father ahead of all else. Not because it is noble and holy and the right thing to do. Yeah, it's all those things, but we need to put our relationship with Him squarely at the front & center of our lives because it changes us! When we are different from everything around us, people take notice and that gives us the chance to tell them why our outlook, our demeanor, our attitude, our perspective is so different! It's Him! He is what makes us free in ourselves and free in this crazy world! He is the one who enables us to be comfortable in our own skins! And that is something a huge chunk of this world is looking for...people who are not just confident in themselves, but in something beyond them.

People are seeking FAITH, and they don't even know it.

We have it, but we can't reflect it if we are dulled and dingy from neglecting the relationship. THE RELATIONSHIP WITH ABBA TRUMPS EVERYTHING! It is the main thing, and as my Daddy so eloquently puts it, "You gotta keep the main thing the main thing."

Get closer to Him, beloved. Remember when Moses was hanging out with God out on the mountain for 40 days? He came back and he'd been saturated in the glory of God for so long his face literally glowed! He had to veil himself because it was too much for the Israelites to look on...it was blinding! Get closer to Him, because the glory of God is transforming and if you are different from everyone and everything around you, it will get noticed and you can have conversations with people that lead to revelatory statements like, "You make it sound so...good..." and then you can tell them how good it is!

Wow! I hope you are empowered today to go out and share this glorious good news with someone. We will talk about this more next week, God willing.

Be blessed, Beloved!


Jennifer Barnes
Uplift! Editor