Everything
Jesus shows us everything we need to know to feel safe entering into a close relationship with God.
My family and I served a church in rural Michigan for ten years in a town called Middleville. When we accepted the call to serve, we decided it would be best to live in the community, so we picked up stakes and moved out to live in the country. It was an amazing season, perfect for our young family.
My first few years there were spent diving deep into relationships with the people who were part of our congregation. At first, I will admit, there was some culture shock. We got used to driving down dirt roads to reach a destination. I learned that a significant portion of my congregation routinely “packed heat.” And, for the first time in my life, I went hunting.
My favorite hunting experience was with a friend named Doug. He took me out to hunt wild turkey. We headed out before the sunrise, each carrying a shotgun slung over our shoulder. We skirted a tree line beside a field. The tall grass was damp with pre-dawn dew. We followed his flashlight deep into the woods and sat down at the base of a massive tree, right at the edge of a deep bowl. Trees grew inside the bowl, and Doug told me that the turkeys were roosted in the branches.
Honestly, I thought he was pulling my leg. But he insisted. At night, for safety, the birds would fly up into the tree branches and bed down for to sleep.
The image of a huge turkey flying up into a tall tree made me chuckle.
I took his word for it. In the darkness, I couldn’t see for myself. But I trusted Doug that this was a good spot.
I’ll never forget when dawn began to break. The black sky turned a misty grey. Tendrils of fog began to lift, stretch and then snap. The forest, quiet since we had found our place, began to awaken. I heard the scurrying of squirrels. The chirping of birds. As the light began to break, the trees within the bowl were illuminated. Sure enough, on several of the branches, I saw enormous, round, black-feathered balls.
With an explosion of sound, each of the birds took flight like a cannonball. Some of them into the bowl, others straight from the branches to the area where we were seated, at the top of the dip. It was a stunning sight.
Details from that early morning linger with me still. A heard of deer running through the forest, some leaping over a terrified turkey. Taking aim at a respectably-sized bird. Squeezing the trigger. Making my first kill.
All of the images that I can recall in an instance were made possible because of the sunlight that struck down the darkness of night. We were positioned perfectly to watch the action unfold. But only the light of the sun allowed us to know there was any action to be seen!
So it is in our spiritual life. We must be standing in the light to see what is really there. Otherwise, we’re left to feeling about in the dark, doing our best to make our way.
The key to growth is learning to be in a loving, trusting relationship with God. Growth can only come in the light of His Presence. And not merely in an intellectual sense. I believe the direct experience of God’s presence in our lives is what allows us to see things as they really are.
Which is why it is so very important that we trust God. Again, not in the conceptual sense, but deep down in our hearts. I’m convinced that, apart from a living trust, we never really discover the enlightenment that comes in His light.
If we’re honest, we sometimes struggle with this trust, don’t we? We wonder why certain things have happened. We have questions about God’s sovereignty. Events unfold that leave us confused. And, when left to fester, these questions and our confusion can grow into distrust and unbelief.
This is why it is so important to see God through the story of Jesus. When we wonder, “Why, God?” Or “Can God be trusted?” We only need to look to Jesus for answers. He is the perfect picture of what God is like. And what do we see?
A God who has come to give abundant life. A God who sees the weary and downtrodden and provides for their needs. A God who does not turn away the sinner, but calls them into his company and up into their destiny. A God who isn’t interested in religious posturing, but invites us into a deep, authentic journey. A God who is willing to bend down and wash the feet that have been made dirty along the way.
This God can be trusted. He even lays down His life so that we can have the life He offers. So, let’s enter His presence. Let’s get close to His light, so that we can see the things He has in store for us!
He's so loving and faithful.