TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - Is God Easy to Live With?

Dear Partner,

If we grew up in a strict home without intimacy with our parents, it can be hard to imagine God cares for us at all and far too easy to imagine Him as a task master. Conversely, if we grew up with very loving and intimate parents without any boundaries for us, we may have trouble seeing God as Holy and how our sin grieves Him. Ideally we had something in the middle that reflects our God's character.

I encourage you to Take 5 | Mini Retreat. Take a few moments to rest your soul and grow in your intimacy with Jesus. May you experience the deep restoration God describes in Psalm 23:1 “…he restores my soul.”

Pondering,

Sean McFeely

Save The Oaks Camp, The Oasis Ministry Ventures Team

In his book The Root of the Righteous, A. W. Tozer writes, “God is easy to live with.” How does that phrase strike you? Does it sound true? Does it feel right to you?

I (Alan) realize that how I feel about that phrase may say more about my image of God than it says about who God really is. There is a young part of me that believes God is impossible to live with. I imagine him with high expectations and great impatience at my slow progress. But is God really like that? Consider the following lines from Psalm 111 from The Message:

He’s so personal and holy, worthy of our respect.The good life begins in the fear of God—Do that and you’ll know the blessing of God.His Hallelujah lasts forever! (vv. 9-10)

It’s the combination of “personal” and “holy” that tweaks something in me. Part of me expects an “or” there. Personal or holy. But God is both. He draws near to me in love and righteousness. He is perfect and he is near. That’s good news for me.

“Father, today my prayer is that you would open my eyes to both your holiness and your intimacy. You are near, even in my shortcomings and line crossings. You are so good in desiring my best and working to that end without wearying. I desire that your holiness would produce in me a holy fear that is the beginning of wisdom. If my heart and mind are driven this way and that by many other fears, I am not really walking the path of wisdom. Wisdom has single vision. Thank you for this generosity. Amen.”

Reflection Questions 

• How do you feel about drawing near to God these days?

• Do you feel like he’s easy to live with? Talk with God about the thoughts and feelings that arise for you.

Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash