Rebuilding Intimacy with God
This is the second to the last blog that is directly related to the Mending the Soul book by Steven R Tracy. Since the blogs have been spread over weeks of time, a review of the points might be helpful. Following are the titles of each chapter to refresh our memories:
- A wake up call regarding the extent and power of abuse
- Abuse as a perversion of the image of God
- Profiles of Abusers
- Portrait of an abusive family
- Shame
- Powerlesness and deadness
- Isolation
- Facing the brokenness
- Rebuilding intimacy with God
- Forgiveness
This week we will discuss “Rebuilding intimacy with God”. Remember, my responsibility to you and every other person I come in contact with, is to bear the image of God. When I fail to do that I damage the image of God. Without even realizing it, when we are hurt by someone, particularly in extreme abuse, we become angry with God. Often these reactions come from people who really know very little if anything about God. Even those who know God personally can go through times of doubts and struggles where they wonder if God is really there for them or if he really cares about them. It is hard to have intimacy with God when these thoughts are clouding our mind.
From the Mending the Soul work book copyright 2015 by Celestia G Tracy on page 201 she writes:
Our most basic need is relational – we were designed to be in intimate relationship with God. The greatest tragedy in human history is that sin alienated us from God our Creator and separated us from each other. We were doomed, but God sent Christ into our world in order to bring us back to Him (2 Corinthians 5:19) God so valued intimacy with us that He was willing to pay the greatest imaginable price in order to meet our greatest imaginable need. God did this in spite of the fact that we can’t give Him anything – He lacks nothing. He has enjoyed perfect intimacy to His own divine Being since before the beginning of time. Such is the incomprehensible beauty of God’s love: He delights in intimacy with us – no matter how messed up and mixed up we are.
As I was going through the Mending the Soul book and workbook, I would finish by writing my thoughts and feelings about what I had just read. I want to share it here:
I have spent much of today doing the work book on this chapter and once again I love what it is saying and it is so encouraging. I have seen how the sinful fallen man has damaged his relationships with others, thus distorting God, but God sent his Son to die on the cross and bear our sins that our relationship with God might be restored. We can walk with God and learn more of Him in this new relationship. A relationship where we learn of God’s faithfulness in spite of our unfaithfulness, we learn of God’s grace when we haven’t been full of grace, we learn of God’s love when we haven’t been easy to love. We see God’s wisdom in all that he does and says in his word and how powerful his word is in meeting our needs. We learn of our sinfulness and sinful ways, how we turn to other things for comfort, and how God the true answer has been there all along waiting to walk with us through our sinful ways. We are reminded of our need of Him in all that we do.
We can take our fears to Him and cast all our cares upon Him. We can seek His face for guidance and direction. We can confess our weakness and know that he will strengthen us in our needs. There is no other source we can turn to that knows what lies ahead and cares about what is best for us and has the power to direct and orchestrate what lies ahead. I am thankful for the stripping away of that which pulls me down and keeps me from enjoying the fulness of God and all he has for me.
The hymn comes to mind that speaks so well of the intimacy I need with God:
“I need thee every hour most Gracious Lord
No tender voice like thine can peace afford,
I need thee Oh I need thee every hour I need thee
Oh bless me now my savior, I come to thee.
I need thee every hour, stay thou near by,
Temptations loose their power when thou are nigh,
I need thee oh I need thee,
Oh bless me now my Savior I come to thee.
A recent facebook post also says so much:
Do you find your own heart sensitive to the Lord’s presence, or are you among those who are “samplers” and “nibblers”? God help you if you are, for the child of the King isn’t a sampler and a nibbler—he’s a sheep who loves his Shepherd, and he stays close to his Shepherd. That’s the only safe place for a sheep—at the Shepherd’s side, because the devil doesn’t fear sheep—he fears the Shepherd. Your spiritual safety and well-being lies in being near to the Shepherd. Stay close to Jesus and all the wolves in the world cannot get a tooth in you… And above all things, “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (1 Chronicles 16:29) A.W. Tozer —
There is much more that can be said about restoring our relationship with God. In at least a small measure, I pray you can see having a right relationship brings us all we really need in life, it brings peace, it brings joy and it produces worship in our hearts.
It would be my prayer that your appetite has been awakened and you will search out this special relationship with God. If you want to talk, I would be most happy to have a conversation that might help get you started on the path that rebuilds intimacy with God.
Hope for Wounded Hearts 