Looks like someone is in for a good time! She sent me this photo last week after opening a package from Lifestream. I can’t tell you how many people over the last eight years have told me that the synergy of these three books was instrumental in helping them finally grasp the reality of how deeply God loves them and launched them on a more fruitful journey into the reality of Christ. Each book comes at the same subject from different angles and in the end they could finally see a reality that is bigger than all of them. He is a loving Father, and he wants to walk with you through your life celebrating your joys and helping you through the painful and broken bits.
That’s not easy to grasp. Many Christians think of God as distant or demanding force and work so hard to appease him. It’s an amazing moment to discover that while God is smart enough not to do our bidding, he’s loving enough to invite us into his way of viewing us, the world, and others.
While in Orange County a couple of weeks ago one lady shared with me how God made that clear to her and it didn’t have anything to do with any of those books. She was in the woods having a frustrated conversation with God about some of the disappointment in her life and what she wanted God to change. In the midst of her rant she heard him speak in her heart, “You approach me as if I am an opposing party.” It wasn’t a question or an accusation, simply an observation. And what an observation it was! She said it exploded in her heart as she realized that she didn’t think of herself alongside him but One making life more difficult for her, or at least One who wouldn’t fix it the way she wanted. That moment transformed her relationship with Father that continues to bear frult.
Learning to see our Father as the redemptive presence in our lives is where this journey begins. The enemy wants us to see him through our disappointments and pain as if he caused them as some punishment for our failings or to teach us some valuable lesson. No wonder people have a hard time seeing him for who he is. He is not our advesary; but a loving presence in our lives. He wants to walk with you through all of life and show you his glory even in the darkest moments.
He is not and never has been your opposition. He is the greatest friend you’ll ever know and if you don’t know that yet, ask him to show you. He will.
