“Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul. I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!”
Psalm 66:16-20
The quiet place.
Do you ever shy away from or avoid quiet time with God? Do you sometimes feel like you can’t let yourself slow down from a busy schedule for fear of facing pain that may come to the surface? I do. Sometimes I keep myself busy so as not to face the hard situations or pain that typically come to the surface in quiet time with God.
Uncertainties, fears, frustrations, hurts. Life can be messy, and it seems like quiet time with God, for me, is a shortcut right to the heart of what’s going on. God doesn’t mess around. He doesn’t sugarcoat. He doesn’t allow me to continue believing lies or walking around with wounds, regrets, or heaviness. He wants each of us to experience true healing and peace. When we spend time with Him, He is going to uncover the matters of the heart, often in short order.
Time with Him is like time with a doctor who knows what’s really going on, or a counsellor who sees so much deeper beyond the surface of what we say is going on (we often say what’s easy to avoid talking about the hard).
We can’t spend time with God and stay the same as we have always been. For some of us, that sound like good news! For others, it sounds uncomfortable. Either way, growth and intimacy with God are necessary for moving forward and learning to embrace the true and abundant life to which we are called.
Hindrances to intimacy with God.
Deep healing and freedom are what we want, aren’t they? If you’ve ever known pain, I’ll bet your answer is “Yes!” Knowing God and being known by Him means we grow in our relationship with Him and over time we will change to be more like Him. It isn’t always easy and there are habits and beliefs that often keep us from growing in our closeness with Him.
Here are a few of the things that keep me from growing in intimacy with God…what are some of yours?
- I fear showing my brokenness to God as if He can’t handle it or doesn’t want to see it.
- I fear that God will judge me for not being perfect or not having it all together.
- I don’t want to slow down because it brings the pain to the surface.
- I avoid intimacy because God sees the real me with all my scars and that can make me feel weak and unworthy of love.
- I want to hide my true self and put a glamourous cover over my pain to avoid the reality of my brokenness.
- I don’t want to be uncomfortable or vulnerable.
- I don’t want to be rejected for my flaws and imperfections, so I hide them from myself and others.
As I look over some of the reasons why I avoid intimacy with God, I see some common threads. I see a fear of judgment or rejection. I wonder if I can really trust God with the truly hard places in my life. I wonder if He can handle the messy truth and if He will still love me when He finds out the truth about me. I wonder if I can really trust Him to not hurt me if I’m vulnerable.
Trust is a big deal in intimacy. If we can’t trust someone, we are unlikely to become close with them because we fear being hurt. We don’t let people in unless we trust them. I think it’s the same with God. If we are fearful of His reactions or judgments, we are not going to let Him into the hard places of our lives to see our broken areas and weaknesses.
Here are a few Scriptures that help me when I’m rushing around trying to avoid a place of intimacy with God. These passages settle my heart to remind me of God’s love and trustworthiness in my places of weakness.
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:7
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:4-7
“For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? So, if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”
Matthew 7:8-11
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Hebrews 4:16
God has a lot to say to us. Sometimes we are afraid to hear it because we think He will say the worst and confirm our fears. He speaks only with love, grace, freedom, guidance, and the goodness that comes from our Good, Good Father.
I hope this post helps you to choose to slow down and be honest with God. He already knows. He just wants to hear it from you directly. He wants you to invite Him into the broken places to find peace and freedom. His healing is waiting for you. Come boldly.
Takeaway Action/Challenge: Take some time this week to rest with God in the slowness of life in the quiet place. God meets us in the place we set aside for Him. If your heart is anxious and worried, choose to trust God and be open with Him about your weakness. Listen for Him. Listen to Him. He is always speaking, but we are not always listening.
