That's the question that's been echoing through most of my conversations lately, friends crying out to me that they feel far from God. The common thread of spiritual deadness makes me keenly aware of the decaying stench that penetrates so many Christian circles, not due to any outright disobedience to Christ, but due to a lack of the pursuit of relationship with Him.
It's the same question I asked God time and time again when I was overcome with the stress and the busyness--and sometimes even the monotony--that daily life tends to bring. I would find myself often frustrated when I would get on a spiritual high at retreats or conferences or mission trips and watch it fade after returning home, presenting myself more like Moses than Paul, watching the glory fade and not increase.
Sovereign LORD, you alone know.
I knew something was off, something wasn't adding up. As a New Testament believer, these constant deaths and revivals seemed much too draining to be the abundant life that Jesus spoke about.
Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!
The revelation that God is always speaking and that I needed to just listen opened up new doors for me. It tended to the flame that was in my heart, creating a fire in me that became beautiful and untamed and all-consuming. As I started making attempts at listening, I could hear. As I started making attempts at noticing, I could see. Suddenly, abiding became more of a tangible reality rather than some abstract concept that we preach sermons and write workbooks on. He is speaking. Do you hear Him? And almost all at once I began experiencing the fruit of the Spirit overtaking me and sensing the heartbeat of God. I began experiencing newness. Mundane routines were transformed into Jesus adventures. I began to feel alive in more places than just on retreats.
This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
In Ezekiel 37, the bones rattle and come together and grow tendons and skin, but there is no life present. Part II involves the word being spoken again, and life is breathed into them. We can give the appearance of being alive and actually be dead on the inside. Having tendons and skin, while it might mean that you aren't dry bones anymore, doesn't mean that you are living in the abundant life that Jesus offers.
The bones rattle and receive breath after they hear the word. Deadness becomes life when we hear Him speak and we chose to respond, but we won't hear Him unless we practice the art of listening.
So for those of you who were at The Big Event this past weekend (or those who also experience the comings and goings of retreat highs), listen up: You did not experience a Jesus high because you were at Lake Champion. You experienced a Jesus high because you were constantly in Scripture, in prayer, and in fellowship with believers.
If you find ways to incorporate those things into your daily routine, you will experience abundant life all of the time, and not just on retreats and at conferences.
Here are some simple and tangible things you can do:
1. Read Scripture. Every day. I don't care how busy your schedule is or what your major is. Be in the Word every morning (~1 chapter a day) and don't leave your spot until you find an application for your life. [And actually read through a book, don't just pop around aimlessly.] His word is alive and active and He will speak to you through it. You've never read Scripture before on your own and don't know where to start? Great. Try starting with Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.
2. Learn how to listen in prayer (rather than talk the whole time). We are not a people who worship a far off god that we just "shoot prayer requests up to." We are in an intimate relationship with a living God who dwells in and with us. Speak and wait to hear. Journaling can help you focus, so ask God a question and then write a response as He puts thoughts in your mind or pictures in your imagination.
3. Get plugged in and pursue fellowship. Join a small group. Find community.
4. As you go about your day, practice His presence by becoming more aware of Him in the room. This might seem tricky at first, but the more you do it, the more natural it becomes.
He loves you and He offers you life--abundant life--that stretches beyond the walls of our worship services, weekly prayer meetings, and off-site retreats. This life exceeds the limitations of our life stages and schedules and (even sometimes) our lack of close friends that live nearby.
Dare to experience Him always. It will change you. Forever.
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