There are so many aspects about God that will take an eternity to discover and learn. Each day I learn more about Him through the various situations and people He places in my life. I have written in the past about God and romance and how He is romantic, and our romantic desires are a reflection of His heart. But a question occurred to me recently, and it was, how do we, as His people, romance God?
In my previous post about God and romance, I stated that romance is about being known. I believe this is one of the foundations of true romance. In human relationships, we spend time with people and we learn about them, we learn what excites them and makes them happy. And when we are romantic towards them, what we are doing is taking what we know about them and doing those things we know (or guess) will make them happy and give them joy.
So, given God’s position towards us, He is in the perfect place to be romantic towards us. He knows everything about us. Psalm 139 is a praise of God’s knowledge of us – “Oh Lord, you have searched me and you know me.” (139:1) What He does, through His character qualities of goodness and love, is meet our needs, wants, and desires.
But how do we romance God? We are in a more difficult position because we can’t see Him as we can the people we are in a relationship with. Fortunately, He has given us His Word to communicate to us His heart and His desires. If romance is about being known and taking what is known and acting on it, then we search His Word and look for what He desires. And what does He desire? Consider the following two passages:
“He has shown you, oh man, what is good; and what the Lord requires of you. Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly before your God.” (Micah 6:8)
“And Samuel said, ‘Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.’” (1 Samuel 15:22)
How do we romance God? We spend time with Him, learn His ways, and obey Him. We submit to His authority. God romances us by pursuing us, by filling our lives with Himself, by giving us good things, and we romance God through obedience to and trust in Him. We submit to God is because He is good, because He is worthy of our trust and obedience. We gladly surrender ourselves and our way because we see and experience His grace and love. We recognize that our surrender and obedience is to Someone so good, so wonderful, so perfect, that we can be safe and know that He will lead us perfectly.
I don’t want this to appear easy, because it is not. I like doing things my way. Trusting God is hard. In fact, without Him, it is impossible. My flesh is very selfish and wants its way. But as His goodness in my life becomes more evident, I find I trust Him more, and I obey Him more. Yet that comes through surrender of myself to Him.
02/02/2010 Update - Here is the link to the previous post referenced in the second paragraph.
4 comments:
Hi, I found your blog after I did a search on "God romancing us." I really enjoyed your post and am going to re-read it until it really sinks in. I am desiring a stronger relationship with God and I like the idea of God fulfilling some of the same needs we have in our desire for "romance." Thanks for this post. I am trying to get to the other post you mentioned in this article and can't seem to get back further into 2007. If there is any way you could post that link here on comments I'll check back because I would like to read that one as well.
Thanks for your time.
Thanks for your comment. Here is the previous post I was referencing... :)
Hey Josh. This post is excatly what I was looking for. I feel God has been pulling me in this direction my entire life and I realize that he's been romancing me since before I was born. Growing up I misunderstood the intensity of my feelings for Him because He can't be seen and life gets in the way. Now I'm 26 and married with two kids. I thought that having a family, a husband and kids, would satisfy this need but now I realize that that need is only for Him. Coming across the song She's in Love by According to John has awoken that need in me and now I'm on the quest to romance the heart of my King. So thank you Joshua for this blog and putting it so simply. It was exactly what I needed. I may just start my own blog on this new life long quest. I don't know if you'll read this since I notice your blog is a few years old but thanks anyway.
Praise God -- I'm glad that He is using this post in your journey. If you have follow-up questions, I'd be happy to discuss more. You can contact me at jiffypopjr at yahoo dot com.
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