Chapter-a-Day Psalm 34
Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see — how good God is. Blessed are you who run to him. Psalm 34:8 (TM)
Wendy and I often find ourselves in the company of non-believers and those whose concept of God and Christianity are far removed from ours. We find the conversations stimulating, fascinating and challenging. These conversations give definition to what we believe and, hopefully, challenge others perceptions as well. Recently we were listening to some people criticizing what they perceived to be the emotionalism stirred up at church camps. The belief was that Christians brain-wash their children.
Wendy and I were revisiting the conversation the other night. While I will freely admit that I've seen more than one church camp manipulate presentations for the emotional effect (much like theatre), I also believe that a relationship with God is just that - a relationship. Relationships are sensory experiences and they produce real emotion. Christianity is not just an intellectual adherence to a set of dusty doctrines penned by monks centuries ago. It's a living, breathing, tasting, seeing relationship with the Almighty.
In my own relationship with God I'm given to angry rants, gleeful laughter, swelling gratitude, and remorseful tears. My relationship with God is as sensory as it is intellectual.
17 Is anyone crying for help? God is listening,
ready to rescue you.
18 If your heart is broken, you'll find God right there;
if you're kicked in the gut, he'll help you catch your breath.
There are times that life seems so bad that even friends and family can't make you feel better. God listens better than any human. You can pour out your heart and not get that advice you don't want. God is ready to share his thoughts with you, but in that darkest moment He will always listen. What a glorious reality!
Posted by: kr | March 05, 2008 at 07:28 AM