Conversations with God

Our pastor spoke recently on obedience and submission. Most of us see them as basically the same thing – and may find discussion about them difficult and uncomfortable. But it reminded me of the time God taught me about submission in a way I never expected. A couple of years ago, God was dealing with my relationship with Him. He revealed I was basing most of my responses to Him on experiences I'd had with others throughout my life. He allowed me to see myself through His eyes as we watched vignettes from the past scroll by like a movie. I watched His heart break as He watched me try to relate to Him the same way I had learned to relate to others in my life. Because I was terrified that my control over my body would be stolen as it had been in the past, I had learned to give myself away so I couldn’t be stolen from again. To me, submission was the way I maintained control over my life. As God revealed these things, He whispered, “I’m not a rapist.” He beg...

In a recent worship service, I noticed a phrase seemed to keep repeating: “The sound of heaven touching Earth...” It made me wonder, what does that really sound like? Is it angels singing? Chariots of fire swooping down out of the sky? It can be fun to think about it that way; but what if what we heard was actually much more practical? The laugh of a child who’s learning to trust after being brought out of an abusive situation . . . the report, “I don’t have to have surgery!” or “The abnormal cells are gone!” after God comes down and heals . . . the thankful cry of a parent chasing after her son, “The doctors said he would never walk!” What about the sound of little feet running down the hallway of parents who were told they could never have children? Praise coming from the lips of people hidden away and almost forgotten in a nursing home? Sometimes we can get tempted to get overly spiritual about some things. It’s awesome to think about the mystical things of God, but the p...