(As published in the Southern Community Church of Christ Sentinel - May 4, 2008)
I have been at Southern for nearly two and a half years now. It takes time to get to know people. I have spent time with all of you, in some way or another. With some it has been a shake of the hand and a “How are you today?” With others I have sat in your homes and listened to the important stories of your past and the things that are pressing on you in the present. It takes time and intentional energy to get to know people.
It’s the same with God. God is all around us and influencing every aspect of our lives, but unless we take time to sit with and intentionally converse with God we can miss out on so much of what God has to offer.
At every funeral I have ever been to I have always learnt more about the person who has passed than I knew before hand. The wonderful stories of their lives are told with love and sense of treasure, by the loved ones of the person who has passed. They have spent intentional and intimate time with their loved ones and have walked the journey with them.
What if there was so much more that God wanted to offer you in your life, but because of busyness and lack of intentional relationship with God, you were missing it? What if you are carrying so much of the heaviness that life brings on your own shoulders, when Christ is right there, offering to make your burden light, yet you don’t see the invitation?
An invitation not accepted retains the gift intended. How do we know God? - by intentionally seeking God’s face; by intentionally being in relationship through community, prayer, worship, stillness, awe, unconditional love for each other…
“Be still, and know that I am God!” Psalm 46:10a
Linda Hannah Young
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