Some of my dearest friends in this world live 795 miles away. Louisiana is a long way from the Palmetto State! Until this summer, I had not seen those friends for 3 long years! Too long. As I threw my arms around each of them and squeezed tightly, so many of them whispered the same thing in my ear. “I knew I missed you, but I didn’t know how MUCH until I saw you!” How beautiful to finally reconnect with them. Facebook and e mails are wonderful things, but nothing is an adequate substitute for face time.
Our meaningful days were spent laughing over shared memories and catching up on all the nitty gritty. I remembered why I fell in love with them in the first place. Their quick wit, “knowing glances”, and even body mannerisms took me back to a time when we were part of each other’s daily worlds. I miss it.
That set my mind to wondering how all that might apply to my God-walk. There are plenty of times when God and I have a day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute connection. But other times are more of the Facebook and e mail variety. I Thessalonians 5:17 has always intrigued me. “Pray without ceasing…” or as the New Living Translation verbosely states it, “Never stop praying.” Just exactly what does that look like in real life? With all the demands and stress in my life, I sometimes have the attention span of a house fly and I’m supposed to remember to pray at all times? Usually when crisis situations have my life spinning out of control, I am keenly aware of my need for God. So we talk. A lot. God is on speed dial. When long-awaited answers to prayer arrive, we quickly give thanks. But I can’t always put my finger on what causes me to stay close to God. Who knows why sometimes I am more in tune with Him than others? It is, after all, relationship. And thanks to good ‘ole “Mr. Human Nature” there are ups and downs.
Are you like me when it comes to reconnecting with God? When I kick my spiritual shoes off and jump back into the Word of God, I find myself splashing around in His truth like a kid in front of a broken fire hydrant on a muggy, hot day (not that we ever have that kind of weather around here, mind you). His Word just spouts off of the page at me and I glance around to see if anyone else is looking – because it is SO personal! How could God know I was thinking that? Has that verse always been there, or did He just stick it in when I wasn’t looking?
The writer of Psalm 42 was reminiscing about grander times when he said, “My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be: I walked among the crowds of worshipers, leading a great procession to the house of God, singing for joy and giving thanks amid the sound of a great celebration!” He missed the days when he and all of his friends spent time learning about and praising God in His temple!
Ah, the good ‘ole days! Well, forget the good ‘ole days – they can be in our past, present and future! We have access to our great big God all day every day. And when we do reconnect with Him, inevitably He hurls His strong arms around our neck and we blurt out, “I knew I missed You, God. I just didn’t know how much!”
