Treasure of the Relationship

"Are you the first man ever born?

Were you brought forth before the hills?

Do you listen in on God's council?

Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?

What do you know that we do not know?

What insights do you have that we do not have?"

Job 15:7-9

If this is what you would call encouragement, I want nothing of it!  Eliphaz, friend of Job, accused the suffering man of being arrogant and casual with God.  In Job's time of greatest need, as he lamented his life as a natural part of the grief process, this friend crushed him like a grasshopper beneath his foot.  With friends like that, who needs enemies?

The truth was, Job was intimately acquainted with God, so much so that he felt comfortable pouring his heart out to Him, hurt as it was.  This is exactly what was needed for God to bring healing to his wounded soul.  Unfortunately, those who gathered around to console Job didn't seem to get that.

I can't let others talk me out of who I know God to be, shaming me into turning my relationship with Him into a kind of religion with rules made and expectations held by man.  What did Job grasp about God that his friends did not?

Heart.  God is bigger than my feelings.  Somehow, it's easy for me as a human to think it's improper to share negative or upsetting feelings with God.  I think I need to tell Him what I think He wants to hear, keeping it clean and neat, all tied up in a neat little package.

The problem is, life is messy and my heart is often aching with pain.  Other times, the coldness of the world around me rubs off, turning my heart of flesh back into one of stone.  Every so often I might even feel downright angry at the circumstances in which I find myself.  Does God really want to hear what's going on in my heart?

Yes, He does!  David was considered by God as a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22).  One of the things that David did to capture the heart of God was to be honest before Him.  He did not put up false fronts,but shared what was truly in His heart, ugly as it might be.  As he ran from his enemies, for instance, David felt abandoned by God, "tossed aside" and oppressed (Psalm 43:2).  Instead of cleaning it up and withholding his true feelings from God, he was brutally honest.  Then God worked to turn His heart back to the truth until he was able to ask himself, "Why am I discouraged?  Why is my heart so sad?  I will put my hope in God!  I will praise him again--my Savior and my God!" (v 5) 

God is big enough to handle my messy feelings, and being honest as I share my heart with Him will draw me closer to Him.

Secure.  She had suffered much loss in her life.  Her husband was killed fairly early in their marriage while he trained pilots for World War II.  She also lost her firstborn son to a condition that left him non-responsive and eventually took his life.  As a result, my grandmother lived in fear of losing those she loved.  This fear of abandonment crippled her in ways she didn't even realize.

It's natural to develop mechanisms to cope with the pain found from living in a fallen, broken world.  Often, these means of survival address a fear of loss or rejection of some kind but are far from healthy.  Knowing that I have security in my standing with God, that through faith in Jesus Christ I cannot lose the love He has for me, means I can face the difficulties of life with confidence.  Nothing I can do, or can be done to me, will make God stop loving me (Romans 8:35-39).  His love is so much bigger than that!

My place as a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ is secure enough to weather any storm.

Truth.  There must be some part I play, some work I must do, some way I should meet God partway.  It seems too much to expect Him to do all the work and make all the sacrifices.  How can I accept such an expensive gift at no cost to me (1 Timothy 1:9)?

It can be hard to receive the gift of salvation without feeling obligated to do something for God in return.  I live in a world where nothing is free and if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.  Therefore, I often think I must somehow earn what Jesus has already secured for me through His death on the cross (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Once I realize that the relationship I enjoy with my Father in heaven is entirely based on His mercy, grace and love, not on my faithfulness, the pressure is off to somehow keep up my end of the bargain.  When I understand that my security in God's kingdom is due to His great love for me, I will no longer find it necessary to jump through hoops to please the God that wants nothing more than my heart.  After I get it through my thick head that there is not a thing I can do to earn my place in God's family, I will be free to be the me God created me to be, doing only what He compels me to do out of an overflow of His great love for me.

Since my relationship with God relies on Him, there is nothing I can add to somehow make it better or keep it strong.

I am bombarded with messages that may contradict what I know in my heart about the God who loves me perfectly.  It's easy to fall prey to the mindset that I must be careful what I say to God, that I could lose His love if I'm not careful, and that I have a responsibility to maintain the bond I share with Him.  In reality, God is big enough to handle what's going on in my heart and He wants nothing more than for me to come to Him honestly and frankly. Furthermore, He already did everything necessary through Jesus Christ to secure my place at His table and my connection to Him is entirely dependent on Him, not on anything I can do.  This is the kind of relationship I have in Christ.  May I let no one talk me out of such a treasure as this!

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can trust God enough to rest in Him.

How do I try to earn what has already been given?

When do think I must keep my harsh or ugly feelings to myself, thinking that God doesn't want to hear such unpleasantness?