Photo by Priscilla Du Preez

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Psalm 46:10

Hearing God’s voice through the chatter can be hard. Our spirits are weary. Our souls are thirsty. Some days, and even seasons, we don’t have more than a few precious minutes a day to stop and breathe. Yet right now, we have a unique opportunity in space and time with fewer commitments. For many of us, the number of people we interact with individually in our personal spheres has greatly shifted. God has removed so many distractions.

I (Kristin) write this post as a believer who has become distracted. I am so often tempted to fill my free hours with worldly things, and the posture of my heart needs to change.

When God calls us to be still and know that he is God, he is inviting us to really know him.

Knowing God means moving from knowing about God to developing a true friendship with him. It is learning to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength – more than the world, more than material things, more than security or the things I imagine will bring security.

To develop a friendship with God, I learned to spend time with him. Like actually stop. And hang out… with God.

Being God’s friend looks like wonder. He has spoken to me in the stars and the clouds and the wind. I ask him the questions on my heart, and my fingers open to that very place in the Bible where my questions are answered.

Friends, God is speaking and he yearns to become our friend.

We’re made with a God-shaped hole in our hearts that only he can fill and he has so much love and healing for us. He wants to spend time with us. He wants to give us wisdom and insight and to show us our next steps. And he wants us to feel his peace in every moment.

A confession:  I can be THE WORST friend ever. I ignore God. I skip prayer (talking with him). I skip thanksgiving (for all of the good gifts he gives). I skip reading my Bible (I miss what he is speaking to my heart). So often I want to do it all my way in my own strength, alone. Yet, despite all my skipping moments and restless wandering, God still loves me more than I will ever know or fathom. He can handle my mess, and he can handle yours, too. We’re not perfect. We won’t ever be. But if we miss a relationship with God on this side of heaven, we miss all of the abundance, too.

Knowing God doesn’t just happen overnight. Just like muscles in our physical bodies, our faith muscles need to be flexed and stretched in order to grow, and without consistency and discipline, we do not progress. Becoming God’s friend and developing a true relationship with him takes time, just like any human relationship. We are made in his image, after all.

All this to say, friends, we couldn’t feel more strongly that God – while covid-19 did not come from him – is using this time of social distancing as a gift of time to seek him more deeply and to be still and know that he is Lord. We urge you to sit with God and open a new conversation or pick it up again. Yes, we will catch up on our laundry, reading, shows, projects and to dos – but the in rhythms of daily life in social distancing, let’s be intentional to prioritize the Most High God who all too often gets our leftovers instead of our first fruits.

To that end, here are a few ways to move from knowing about God to really knowing him.

1. Read the Bible. Get a Bible app and a reading plan for your smartphone and set a goal to read the entire Bible. It doesn’t have to be done in a year or two years (It took me seven!) but take the time to know God through his Word. Open your Bible and read anywhere your Bible opens to – God is teaching you about himself and his character. Over time, you will understand the story end-to-end, and it will be clear why God sent Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins.

2. Spend time in prayer. Get a journal. Write your prayers down. Talk to God as a friend. Quiet your spirit and listen. Read scripture to see what he is telling you. Be still and know that he is God.

3. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what attitudes, behaviors, habits or hangups are quenching the Holy Spirit from moving in your life, then invite God into your heart space and ask him to help you hunger for him more. He will show you what you can change.

May God bless you this week with his perfect peace and help you to go deeper in relationship with him.

Our sincerest thanks go out to those on the frontlines putting themselves at risk to keep essential businesses and services running for everyone else. We are praying for you!