By Michael Van Patter
I remember the first time I ran a 5k race for one specific reason; I hadn't trained a bit. I donned the running outfit, pinned the number to my shirt and headed to the starting line. Twenty-some minutes later I crossed the finish line, aching and holding the side of my chest. My body wasn't prepared for the activity. I hadn't spent adequate time conditioning it. Hold that thought.
Have you ever talked with a friend who you hadn't seen in months or years? Usually it takes some time to get into conversation. There's so much to catch up on about everyday life, families, work, etc. that it's sometimes hard to get into topics of any depth. Re-acquaintance takes time.
In the past articles I've written, we've talked about worship being a lifestyle. Romans 12:1-2 urges us to offer our lives as living sacrifices and calls this our spiritual act of worship. And in I Corinthians 10:31 we read, "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God". That all makes sense, but I can't shake the fact that many times I come to God (whether during the week in prayer or study or on Sunday morning) feeling distant. Like the old friend, there are too many things to catch up on for me to really connect with His heart. I've come to the race and I haven't run in days or months. The throne-room of the King seems vague and unfamiliar and I wonder why I don't feel connected to Him. Does any of this sound familiar? Is there anything we can do about it? How do we enter His presence anyhow?
The truth is, as believers, we're always in God's presence. In fact, the Bible says that there's nowhere we can go to escape it! One of my favorite passages of scripture is Psalm 139:7-12: "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, 'Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me, even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you." This should bring us great hope, because Psalm 73:28 tells us, "As for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge". It is a good thing for us to be in God's presence, and as His children, we cannot escape His presence. This is the glory of the gospel that God, in His constant love and sovereignty and through the precious blood of Christ, has brought Himself near and promised never to leave or forsake us. No matter what we do, how we act, or what we say can separate us from the love of Christ.
It's been just over a 2 years since Hannah and I got married. On our wedding day, we made promises to each other to be faithful for as long as we were alive and we became, as the Word says, "one flesh". No matter what either of us do, we are still married. At the end of every day, Hannah is my wife and I her husband. Our behavior can, however, change the way in which we interact with one another. For example, if I were to completely neglect ever asking her how she was doing, or telling her she is beautiful, or spending time with her, I would be creating a distance between us. I wouldn't be causing our marriage to cease existing "it is a promise and is firm" but I would be allowing time to create unfamiliarity. Soon I would forget how to relate to my bride.
The same is true of our living in relationship with God. In Psalm 54:4, 10-12, David says, "I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak hide you face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." The word relationship implies action. Living in relationship with God means regularly talking with Him learning who He is. When we make it a priority to be familiar and acquainted with God, we'll find our worship becoming less a time of "catching-up" with God and more a time of rejoicing in who He is. That is my hope for my heart and for all of you; that we would reach a place in our lives where Sunday morning worship is the culmination of a week full of worshipful living. Will you join me in the journey toward that end?
