When your mind becomes active / busy / frantic it can be hard to pin down thoughts, ideas, prayers and to be able to carry out what you originally intended to do. Strangely enough, it can be in this frantic state that a relationship with God can become so much more REAL.
I believe that one of the possible reasons for why I go through busy-minded phases is because I couldn't imagine for one minute my prayer life - my relationship with God - being one of ritual and routine. I never want anything of my walk with Christ to become out of an attitude that says: 'Well, I'd better pray a prayer'. That's part of it... but with respect to everyone else who knows God, I doubt that they would have an alternate desire in their prayer life than to have a very real and intimate relationship with God. So maybe it's not SO much about me and my desire to be right with God that stirs up that frantic mind... Maybe there's something more to it.
In Matthew 16 v 13 - 17, when Jesus lived upon the earth, we discover a little about Peter's sincere faith - his commitment to be driven by Kingdom-mindedness and its results. Let's have a look: 'When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do you say that the Son of Man is?"
"Well," they replied, " some say John the baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets."
Then he asked them, "But who do you say I am?"
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God."
Jesus replied, "You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being."
There is so much that the Bible doesn't say, but that we can look into and suspect took place... The Bible talks very little about Simon Peter's personal life - what he did when he wasn't among others, but I am convinced that he spent a lot of time seeking out the Kingdom of God and all that was good and right. The sentence 'You did not learn this from any human being' leads me to believe that he went through a process of learning. He sought God for it - with the right intentions - to please God. And as we read further on, we learn that Peter did have RIGHT intentions. Jesus says in Matthew 16 v 18: "...Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means 'rock') and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it..." Wow. Jesus trusted Peter... BIG STYLE. Whenever a successful relationship between a Christian and God take place, it's always two-way. Two-way in the sense that the life calling of a Christian is fulfilled by means of two steps.
1. Man embraces God - relationship, vision, and purpose and never lets them go.
2. God designs and enables man's relationship with God, vision, and purpose to take place.
It's so important that we have occasional personal experiences that are incomparable to those of others (but the more the better!). My reason for this is that without these times we have no need to rely on God, for we could just rely on the wisdom and understanding of people around us to get us through. Have you ever had a time of prayer with someone - you've been alone with that person - it's personal and lovely... a deep friendship... intimate. I've been there. there was one instance where I experienced this with a good friend. Years later I found myself wounded... hurt... broken... by something which this same person said to me. We're both in a good place with one another now, but people are so unpredictable... with all the feelings we have, our intimacies can make or break us.
The best place you can go where you know that you can pour out your heart and not get destroyed for it is Jesus Christ. If you want the best counsel, yeah, go to counsellors, doctors, and trust them! I have complete confidence in many of these people and believe that they do an awesome job, but remember that with every human being there's sin, memories, faults, insecurities and you shouldn't allow these things to withdraw you from others, but change your perspective on where your FULL confidence lies. James 3 v 6 - 10 is the most amazing example of these words that I know of and it talks about the unpredictable nature of man. '...the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessings and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth.'
So now that we know why we place part of our trust in man, but why should we place our full trust in God? Psalm 116 v 5: 'How kind the LORD is! How good he is!' God is good. But just because The Best Intimacy Is Private ... The Best Intimacy Is God. Let me tie up a loose end... I talked earlier about placing part of our trust in man and our full trust in God. Now... that doesn't mean that we treat people as if they're a dog that needs to be kept on a leash. Just check this out. Galatians 6 v 10: 'Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone - especially those in the family of faith.' If we can do good to people, with a real intention to do good, then our relationship with mankind will become much more beautiful... the greatest beauty though, will always be our friendship with God. Done.
One last thought. You know, the more I had those 'frantic episodes' which I spoke of further up the page - the ones that made it hard for me to pray and and think and carry out intentions... Well the more I had those, the more I started to realise that our relationship with God is so much more than words. Every intention, motive, dream, song, and even silence is part of the relationship. Peter wasn't constantly saying 'I need a revelation, I need a revelation, I need a revelation!!' His walk with Jesus consisted of speaking, singing, dreaming, thinking, listening, watching, waiting... and eventually... hearing. Discover today a multitude of dimensions in communicating with Jesus.
See you soon! For all those who are looking, keep searching. God Bless X
[B.T: New Living Translation.]
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