Are You a Friend of God?

Let’s think about something for a second. How would you respond to the idea that friendships are easy to make but relationships are what takes some hard work and effort.

This really made me think about life and a relationship with God. It made me wonder how much we significantly limit God in our lives. While there are many people who have chosen to guard themselves from others and simply just have acquaintances and friends in their lives rather than going into deeper relationships with them. This is where my heart was tugged and I was lead to pray!

There are definitely those people out there who choose to make excuses to not go deeper into a relationship and keep others at arms length. It’s a behavior and attitude learned and built upon through painful or discouraging experiences. Eventually it just becomes a habit that we establish as our own comfort zones.

But it makes you wonder if this habit with people is this the way that those individuals choose to relate with God?

In the song “Deep Cries Out” made famous by Bethel, it talks about deep cries out; and as it was explained in church on Sunday, it’s about that desire to want more and to just not look at God’s presence and abundance as a toddler pool, but instead try to look at what He can do as an Olympic size pool.

Often times we as people choose to limit the relationship we have in our lives. There are many who are simply just friends with God. They go to church every Sunday, may attend a Bible Study during the week, and may pray and read their Bible. However, that’s as far as it goes.

A relationship with God is so much grander than a basic week of a committed Christian. It becomes just as significant in your life as a marriage does and often times may take more work and effort. One reason is because we put it in our own minds that for whatever reason or insecurities we have, we aren’t good enough to have a relationship with God on our own and there are so many obstacles or hindrances in our way to get to Him.

A relationship with God consists of living your days with Him being the first on your mind and the first connection and hello you have in the morning. It requires you opening the Bible, reading the words, and actually living upon it. Having that deep of a relationship requires commitment and delighting of one another, to praise Him, to meditate in thankfulness. It also requires date nights and sometimes intimate meals and encounters with one another- all the same as if it were your relationship with your spouse or significant other.

Building a relationship with anyone takes time, energy, and serious effort. It is the same as building a relationship with God. As easy as it is to figure out that God loves you and has gave SO MUCH for you. It is a totally different kind of hard when you have to look within yourself and figure out why you are pulling away or are continuing to remain distant from Him.

Sure we all get busy in life, but do we not have thoughts in our day? Can we not take a moment to just say God, I need you, Lord, I love you, or Jesus, Thank you. While we are at school or at work, it is so easy and habitual that we would call or text message your loved ones to see how they are doing and what they are up to. In those same few minutes, it can be shared or divided with God with the same intent.

It is my hope that we as a Christian Culture can find those friends of God in our own families, friends, churches, and communities. To find them allows us to simply just pray for them and encourage them to be come closer to The Father. We can encourage others so much by taking that step out in confidence and boldness to have a relationship with those people in our lives so that they see what lies beyond what a friendship can provide.

So I challenge you to ask yourself- if you were to be completely honest with yourself, would you say that you are friends with God or have a deep and meaningful relationship with Him?

A lot of times the insecurities and beliefs that we have developed due to the enemy’s whispers and efforts become reasons to not connect with others deeply and instead just to know their name and keep them at the surface. Instead of looking within ourselves to see if there is something in us that we feel ashamed or guilt for that we deem ourselves unworthy of being friends or in a relationship with whomever, then we need to pray for that in our lives or ask others to do the same.

We need to do the same with how we approach God. Do we allow ourselves to be in a relationship with Him or do we allow the shame in our lives enough to the point where we still keep a safety net in our lives?