I only wanna be with you

Posted in By Misti Runyan 0 comments

Relationship. I hear that word used in so many situations. In church, we say we're in relationship with other believers. On Facebook, we can tell all our friends we are 'single' or 'in a relationship'. But do we ever stop and think about the origin of the term? God designed relationship, and only He knows how it should really work.

Last week we talked about the miracles God performed to bring about Jesus' birth. Do you ever wonder why He went to such lengths for us? What is the motivation for Him to bend over backwards for people who turn their backs on Him every day?

The reason Jesus came was to right our relationship with God. We, His children, could not comprehend true relationship, and could not accomplish the work that was needed to fix the broken world. Humans had so badly twisted God's plan that there was only one way back, and our Heavenly Father loved us too much to leave us hanging out to dry. God wants us to depend on Him for all our needs: physical, emotional, spiritual, and relational. Our lives are a testament to our Creator, and we require His guidance to get it right.

The Bible gives us example after example of the disasters that befell our forefathers when they stepped out of relationship with Him and tried to take care of things on their own. And yet, we still insist on independence today. Rebellion, sin, doubt-these are all the result of our pursuit of control of our own lives. When we fail to recognize that God is the only one capable of captaining our ship, we cause ourselves unnecessary pain.

Fortunately, we do not have to live without hope. Whatever we have done, or not done, may seem unforgivable to us. God doesn't see it that way. God pursues us, and He never gives up. Is it easy to relinquish control? Not at all. In Genesis, God placed Adam in charge of the garden, and everything in it. After He created Adam and Eve in His likeness, He said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."-Genesis 1:28. We were designed to control things; it's in our DNA. That's why it's so difficult to let go of control; but letting go is part of God's plan to help us understand relationship and trust.

What is required of us, then? Do we spend our lives on our knees, or with our heads down? Absolutely NOT! We are children of the Most High God, and relationship with Him makes us holy. What we need to do is to pursue God's definition of relationship-a lifelong transformation of our hearts and minds to see with God's eyes, love with God's heart, and think with God's perspective.