Frank Laubach took upon this question. He was a missionary that lived from 1884 till 1970. He taught and read scripture to the illiterate. His writings are amazing.
"Can we have that contact with God all the time? All the time awake, fall asleep in His arms, and awaken in His presence? Can we attain that? Can we do His will all the time? Can we think His thoughts all the time?... Can I bring the Lord back in my mind-flow every few seconds so that God shall always be in my mind? I choose to make the rest of my life an experiment in answering this question."
Frank was dissatisfied with His spiritual life, so he decided he with live in "continuous inner conversation with God and in perfect responsiveness to His will." He journals about his travels and experience with finding God minute-by-minute. His entries are amazing.
January 26, 1930: I am feeling God in each movement, by an act of will--willing that He shall direct those fingers that now strike this typewriter--willing that He shall pour through my steps as I walk.
March 1, 1930: This sense of being led by an unseen hand which takes mine while another hand reaches ahead and prepares the way, grows upon me daily... sometimes it requires a long time early in the morning. I determine not to get out of bed until that mind set upon the Lord is settled.
April 18, 1930: I have tasted a thrill of fellowship with God which has made anything discordant with God disgusting. This afternoon the possession of God has caught me up with such sheer joy that I thought I never had known anything like it. God was so close and so amazingly lovely that I felt like melting all over with a strange blissful contentment. [ So amazing! :) ] Having had this experience, which comes to me now several times a week, the thrill of filth repels me, for I know its power to drag me from God. And after an hour of close friendship with God my soul feels clean, as new as fallen snow.
May 14, 1930: Oh, this thing of keeping in constant touch with God, of making Him the object of my thought and the companion of my conversations, is the most amazing thing I ever ran across. It is working. I cannot do it even half of a day-- not yet, but I believe I shall be doing it some day for the entire day. It is a matter of acquiring a new habit of thought.
May 24, 1930: This concentration upon God is strenuous, but everything else has ceased to be so. I think more clearly, I forget less frequently. Things which I did with a strain before, I now do easily and with no effort whatever. I worry about nothing, and lose no sleep. I walk on air a good part of the time. Even the mirror reveals a new light in my eyes and face. I no longer feel in a hurry about anything. Everything goes right. Each minute I meet calmly as though it were not important. Nothing can go wrong excepting one thing. That is that God may slip from my mind.
June 1, 1930: Ah,God, what a new nearness this brings for Thee and me, to realize that Thou alone canst understand me, for Thou alone knowest all! Thou art no longer a stranger, God! Thou art the only being in the universe who is not partly a stranger! Thou art all the way inside with me-- here... I mean to struggle tonight and tomorrow as never before, not once to dismiss thee. For when I lose Thee for an hour I lose. The thing Thou wouldst do can only be done when Thou hast full sway all the time.
Last Monday was the most completely successful day of my life to date, so far as giving my day in complete and continuous surrender to God is concerned... I remember how as I looked at people with a love God gave, they looked back and acted as though they wanted to go with me. I felt then that for a day I saw a little of that marvelous pull that Jesus had as He walked along the road day after day "God-intoxicated" and radiant with the endless communion of His soul with God.
Whether or not you agree with Laubach's journey, God wants us to be intimate with Him. God draws several pictures to describe the relationship we should have with Him. One is of a vine and a branch.
"I am the vine, and you are the branches. If any remain in me and I remain in them, they produce much fruit. But without me they can do nothing... If you remain in me and follow my teachings, you can ask anything you want, and it will be given to you. (John 15:5,7)
God wants you to communicate with Him. How would you feel if you loved someone so much, but knew that they never even spared a thought about you? On the other hand, how would it feel to know that the person you loved so deeply was thinking about you constantly? You would be giddy and overflowing with joy. Love is so wonderful.
Give your love to God. And buy Max Lucado's book. You will seriously love it.
Oooh thanks for the recommendation! The parts you posted here are so beautiful. I waited to read through this whole post until I really had time to focus on it, and I'm glad I did.
ReplyDeleteAlso, what YOU wrote about love is really beautiful, too. :D It's so true!