Hebrews 11:1 tells us that “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do no see” (NIV). If you are
growing in your faith, your personal relationship with God is becoming stronger and you are becoming more and more certain God is at work. There will be a deep trust between you and your Creator and a powerful knowledge of His will for your life. There will also be a hunger for constant communication with Him. The methods you use to develop this relationship will be as unique as you are; however, there are a few things that are necessary for any relationship to be successful. You need trust, knowledge of the other person involved and communication, lots of communication.
Let’s start with trust. Trust is difficult in any relationship. You won’t feel like growing a relationship if you don’t think you can trust the other party involved. This holds true for our relationship with God as well. If you don’t think you can trust God has your best interests at heart, you will have trouble with your faith. But the great thing is that God doesn’t expect us to trust blindly. He has given us plenty of examples through His word of His trustworthiness. He promised Abraham a son in his old age and He delivered. He promised to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and He did, with no shortage of miracles along the way. All we have to do is read through the Old Testament to see God over and over again proving His trustworthiness.
And it doesn’t stop in the Old Testament. Think about this: Would you trust someone who was willing to give up His own son in order for you to have life? That’s what He did. He sent the ultimate proof that He is worthy of our trust by sending his son to die in our place. It is hard to grasp sometimes, but Jesus was a real, live, flesh and blood man that felt hunger, thirst, pain and all the other things we experience on a daily basis. Then He died a horrific, painful death just because He loved us and wants our trust. In John 14:1 Jesus tells us, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; also trust in me.” Take heart friends, He wouldn’t command us to trust Him if He wasn’t worthy of our trust.
Knowledge of God’s will for your life can also help deepen your relationship with Him. How does God provide us with that knowledge? He gives us His word. Literally. The Bible is full of instruction on how God’s wants us to live our lives, and if we are the Christians we profess to be, we will seek this knowledge on a regular basis. In John Ortberg’s book titled “The Me I Want to Be” he reminds us that “only God knows your full potential, and he is guiding you toward that best version of yourself all the time.” God wants us to know what his will for our life is and He will guide us into that place if we are willing to go. All we have to do is spend time in His word, trust His guidance, and ask Him to keep us on track.
That brings us to communication. Sometimes, communication can be the hardest part of a relationship. I think this is especially true in our relationship with God. He doesn’t respond in the typical way, does he? We have to learn to listen for God’s voice throughout our day. Sometimes He will respond directly to us through his word and we know it’s Him. Other times He will respond through someone else, through a situation we are dealing with or maybe even a book we are reading. Regardless of how He responds, if you are not actively listening and watching for His response, you will miss it. Growing this part of your relationship may seem the hardest. How do you find time in your busy day to talk to God? And how do know that you haven’t missed his answer? The demands of your job and home life may make you feel like you don’t have the proper time to spend communicating with God. While it is important to spend some quiet time alone with God everyday, that doesn’t mean that He won’t value the short, seemingly broken conversations you may have with Him during your busy day. A quote from Thomas Kelly’s book “A Testament of Devotion” sums up this concept beautifully:
“There is a way of ordering our mental life on more than one level at once. On one level we may be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting all the demands of external affairs. But deep within, behind the scenes, at a profounder level, we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship and a gentle receptiveness to divine breathings.”
Moses’ words to the Israelites serve as a reminder to us all, “Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life…” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20). Make the Lord your life, and He will not fail to lead you if you hold to his teachings, trust him and listen to his voice.
