A Picture of Intimacy with God...

---

“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.” Ps. 37:7

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” Gal. 5:16

“The fruit of the Spirit is ….patience…”Gal. 5:22

“For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. 8 My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.” Psalm 63:7-8

After almost an entire year meditating on Psalm 63 and praying and considering intimacy with God, a few things seem to have clicked for me today. My mentor, a godly woman over thirty years my senior, named Doris worked diligently in our relationship to teach me some important life lessons. 1. Walk by the Spirit and 2. Rest in the Lord. She not only spoke of these spiritual principles often; she truly modeled them out in her own life.

For years God has also and will continue to teach me about these truths, praise His name! Doris also used to say “these are lifelong lessons you will need.” This has been a long period of several years now that I know God has been emphasizing my need to rest in Him. I thought I knew what that looked like but I’ve never, ever, been good at resting. When I was younger I went through some times of serious illness and found myself on bed rest and it was torture. My family will tell you I always seem to have to be doing something. I know we are human beings, not human doings but I find it hard to “be still and know He is God” or to just be still period!

However God has contained me in a holding pattern as I look back over not just one but several years now. I am beginning to see the truth of how Isaiah 64:4 is reality, “For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.”

If you want to learn about resting in God you must also live by walking in His Spirit, so that you may have the patience from HIS fruit to also wait on Him. When you figure out that it is all interconnected and how it brings intimacy, it is worth it. Psalm 63 reflects such intimacy with God. To be able to be so close that you can lay down under the shadow of His wing, all snuggled up, and rest. To turn from your struggle for control of your life, outcomes you want, manipulation or doubts, and to draw from Him the patience you need to wait for Him to work on your behalf- is the sweetest love.

It is always about loving Him so much that you trust Him to meet your needs however He sees best for you, rather than grabbing other things, or people to try and fill what you think you need. Sometimes we do not even really know what we need!

Intimacy with God cannot be derived from some check list or work of our own, because we are saved by grace through faith not our own efforts anyway, (see Ephesians 2). We really do our only and greatest “work” when we wait on Him to act on our behalf. Just as we cannot save our very own souls from the punishment we deserve, we look to Jesus and live, we also cannot conjure up more faith, more real wisdom or circumstances we want. It is He who works on our behalf. We let Him do the leading and it is an active waiting, but this waiting brings rest, because we do not have to be the one in charge. We follow. Our eyes are on Him, Our heart is pliable in His hands, our mouths speak when He fills them, and our feet move only when and where He directs. This is the farthest thing from complacency or using grace as an excuse. Yet it is a picture of intimacy, the kind of crazy, wild, love that turns you toward Him to stay so close.

As I encountered Doris’ demeanor during cancer and her death, I saw a child of God resting completely in Him. She was able to give her clothes to a woman from her church who came to her house before she died. Doris wanted a “fashion show” and with joy she told the woman how beautiful she looked in her new wardrobe. She had an aura of peace as the day she drew her last breath displayed her earlier study of His Word. Underneath her hospital bed that had been placed in her living room lay a Bible, Bible atlas and study materials. As with the missionary Hudson Taylor.

Taylor, founder of China Inland Mission, in the last months of his life said, "I am so weak. I can't read my Bible. I can't even pray. I can only lie still in God's arms like a little child and trust." As these saints found this in the hardest of challenges life brings, should we live every day any differently?

If we learn well to walk in the Spirit, so that His fruit flows from us, including the patience only He can produce, we are then able to wait on Him and then find that rest. Waiting, it seems more and more no one wants to wait! However it is easier to wait when we are preoccupied, like a child in line at the fair. May we be so preoccupied with loving, praising, worshipping, learning, teaching, serving and thanking Him that the trust and intimacy are natural outcomes!