Roots

"There's nothing worth more that will ever come close. Nothing can compare... I've tasted and seen of the sweetest of loves. Where my heart becomes free and my shame is undone." 

A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn't to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn't in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn't in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper.

-1 Kings 19:11

When I read this I was kind of confused at first. Why wouldn't God want to be so loud that we could hear Him no matter what we were doing? And why would such an amazing God choose to whisper instead of using His voice to shake the earth?

Then I thought about the last couple years of my life and all the times I have felt God move. My relationship with Him has hinged on how intimately He loves. He is the healer, provider, comforter, and so much more but before all of that He is our father. When I put Him into that context it all made perfect sense.

Think about a baby, when they're upset, scared, inconsolable you don't yell at them to make them see you are there. No, you pick them up, press your face to theirs and whisper gently in their ear. In the same way when we are hurting, confused, in need of comfort; with a whisper He holds us close and assures us that we have nothing to fear because He is so close.

It is so easy to see Him as far away and uninvolved until we ask Him to come near. So often we look up crying out to Him to come when He is already standing right beside us. He is not distant or impersonal and if we would be quiet enough to hear Him just for a moment we would find that He is waiting to tell us how much we mean to Him and how incredibly in love with us He is.

We were created to be close to Him but we get in the way allowing our pasts, distractions, and fear to keep us from living without walls. He longs to be intimately involved in our hearts but we have to let Him get as close as He wants to be. There's not a tear He doesn't see or a prayer He doesn't hear, He holds it all and He wants it all. Don't be afraid to get close. When He looks at you He sees His daughter, unflawed and innocent. The more intimate you allow your relationship with Him go the more you will discover who He is and who you are.