I’ve been trying to get back to this for several days and couldn’t. There are many who haven’t experienced a close, intimate relationship with their Heavenly Father and desire it. Unfortunately, they are often given the wrong message. Basically: don’t rely on your feelings. They don’t matter. We would never tell someone that in a marriage; we would hurt for them if they experienced in their marriage the same level of intimacy that they experience in their relationship with the Lover of their souls.
In a marriage relationship, if we were missing these signs, we would be encouraged to keep on and it will come. We would be encouraged to expect it. But, in our relationship with God, we can often get the message to not expect these things. When it comes to having a meaningful, 2-way discussion with God, many not only don’t expect it, but don’t believe that others have it. As a result, we often grow discouraged during our prayer time because we aren’t hearing His voice and we give up too quickly because we are “told” to not expect it. We wouldn’t quit trying for that in a marriage, neither would we express disbelief when someone told us they had it in their marriage. We can have meaningful, 2-way discussion with our Heavenly Father. It is possible to hear His voice every day of our lives. If that’s what you desire, then don’t quit. Expect it. Persevere as much as you would in your marriage.
Unfortunately, many marriage end when the “zing” is gone. But, they don’t have to. We encourage the couple to spend time together, reconnect, find ways to put the zing back into the relationship. Are we encouraging people to expect this same zing in their relationship with the Lover of their souls? I know it can be experienced because I have. I have felt my heart flip when I hear His voice. I have felt His love shower on me like rain. I have had my heart filled with love for Him that is inexpressible. You can have it too. Just keep on seeking it and expecting it. Don’t quit.
This is where we often tell people that you can go by your feelings, that feelings can’t be depended upon. The Bible repeatedly tells us to praise, trust, search and come to Him with our whole hearts! We are even told to believe in our hearts. The heart is the seat of the emotions. Yet several of the above mentioned activities would seem to depend on the mind: trust, search and believe. So, what’s He saying? Is it possible that our emotions must be involved? That it’s good at times to check things if our feelings are saying something different than the mind is? I would say, yes! God wants us to feel and experience Him. There are times when the Bible tells us to ‘know’ Him.
Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God. John 17:3
For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish….that I may know him… Phil 3:8b, 10
There are numerous other verses that use this word know. It is the Greek word ‘ginosko’ and it bring with it the idea of experiencing something as compared to simply knowing the facts. One author says it means “to be involved in an intimate, growing relationship”. It involves all of us, our hearts as well as our minds. Incidentally, it is the same word used in the following verse:
When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. Matt. 1:24
It’s Hebrew counterpart is ‘yada’ and is used throughout the Old Testament in this same sense. The word God used for knowing God in many verses is the exact same word use to tell of the most intimate act between a husband and a wife. This is the most intimate relationship possible here on earth. Imagine for a moment, what this would be like if it were devoid of emotion.
There is often warnings about depending on mountaintop highs and the coming down. These are valid concerns in a way because people lose sight when they come down off the mountain. The air is foggier down here. But, there are several things to keep in mind.
1) No ever quits climbing mountains because they have to come back down. The view is so awesome from the top; the air so crisp and clear; the experience so heady that knowledge of coming down stops not a single person from going to the top.
2)In the early years of my relationship with my husband, there were lots of giddy times filled with dizzying feelings, excitement that went over the top, etc. There was a lot of zing in the early days. But, the closeness we feel now is so much deeper, so much more intimate even though it’s not as heady. There’s something that happens as a relationship deepens that closeness is so much better, stronger and deeper. Our feelings aren’t the same now as they were in the beginning, but our relationship is stronger, more intimate, more real, and…well….more of a part of who we are and who we have become.
It’s the same way in a relationship with God. In the beginning, there’s a lot of heady feelings, excitement that goes over the top, feelings of being chosen. There’s a lot of zing in the early days. But, things settle down. We FEEL like we’ve come down off the mountain. But, if we persevere we will find a relationship much more satisfying than we had at first. The closeness with Him becomes deeper and much more intimate. Our feelings are quite the same as they were in the beginning, but we find our relationship with Him has grown stronger, more intimate, more real…and yes…more a part of who we are and who we have become.
If you are seeking for a closer, more intimate relationship with the Heavenly Father; one in which He speaks to you daily; manifests His presence regularly; and personally tells you His thoughts and reveals His heart to you, my encouragement to you is to press on. Do NOT ignore your feelings. They DO matter. The mind needs to be the knot you tie at the end of your string until your emotions begin to realize all that God has in store for you!
I pray that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in you inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith–that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and heigh and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Eph. 3:16-19