Bible Studies

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Psalm 27:8 – “My heart has heard You say, “Come and talk with Me.” And my heart cries out, “Lord, I am coming!”

God calls out to us every day, “Come and meet with Me. Come and talk to Me. Come and rest in My presence.” In our hearts and in our souls we respond, “Lord, I am coming!” Deep within ourselves we understand that it is for this very reason – to meet with God, to be with Him – that we were saved and brought into relationship with Him. Our time alone with Him is like food and water to our souls (Ps 63:1) So why do we find it so hard to take the time to be alone with Him in the secret and the quiet? If this is what we were made for, then why does it get so little of our time? Many people would blame busyness. Whether it’s family or career, there are too many things that need doing and we “must” be about doing them. While the demands of this life can be many and pressing, they are nothing more than a convenient excuse. For although there is a new nature in us that hungers and thirst for God, there is still in us an old nature that does everything it can to avoid Him. It whispers to us in the back of our minds. It says things like, “He’ll make you change in ways that you don’t want to change. He’ll make you do things that you don’t want to do. He’ll turn you inside out and upside down. He’ll demand more than you want to give.” As far as they go, these things are true. God will change you, but by moving you to want to. God will ask you to do things you don’t want to so that you might grow in Him. God will turn you inside out and your life upside down, but with the best possible ends in sight. God will demand more of you than you are willing to give, but He helps you to give it and stretches your faith in Him.

Every time we have heeded the call to meet with Him and let Him change us, let Him turn us inside out and help us give and do what we never could have on our own – every time God has worked all of it for good (Romans 8:28). It is not that we don’t want to be changed, not that we don’t want to be stretched and to grow, we like the result when it’s done, but it’s the process, it’s being in the middle of it, that scares us. Stretching is painful and changing is difficult and as if that weren’t hard enough, there are people around us who don’t really want us to change because it affects them too. Everything around us calls us to stay as we are, but God calls us to Him and we know that we can’t do both. Therefore, we must be brave and ask God to draw us to Himself by whatever means necessary. We must ask Him for the courage to allow Him to change us and to desire relationship with Him above everything else.

If you are having trouble finding time to spend with God, begin by looking at the time that you already have (however brief) in which you are already alone – that is, taking a shower or going to the bathroom. Use that time to reorient yourself to God and to lay your life at His feet, then ask Him to show you more time that you can use to meet with Him. Just remember that you can do nothing without Him (John 15:1-5) and if you want to have a productive and (eternally) meaningful day, you cannot neglect time alone with God (which is why morning is best so that you can orient your day from the beginning). Meet with God at the start of your day (Psalm 5:3 & 90:14) and continually turn your heart and life toward Him during the course of the day. In this way, you will begin to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Remember, you don’t just meet with God because you’re supposed to or because you need to or even simply because you want to, but whether or not you want to or feel you need to, He calls to you – He wants to spend time with you – not just because He wants to change you or because He wants something out of you, but at the bottom of it all He calls to you because He loves you. He longs to put His arms around you and hold you close because He likes having you there. He saved you because, “this is what He wanted to do and it makes Him happy.” (Ephesians 1:5). If you cannot come for your own sake, come in response to His love. He will not disappoint you. Whether or not you immediately feel like anything changed at all, your time with God is never wasted.

May we pray, “Oh, God, we are so amazed that You call to us, that You want to be with us and spend time with us. Thank You for saving us. Thank You for calling and drawing us to Yourself. Lord, give us courage and faith that we would respond to You with all our hearts and follow wherever You would lead us. Help us to obey You, to do whatever You ask of us that we would see and know and remember that all Your plans for us are good (Jeremiah 29:11). Help us to turn our thoughts and hearts to You at every possible moment. Keep our lives focused on You. May everything we ever do be for Your glory alone. Amen.”

Thesaurus Fun:

Meet – get together, have an encounter or experience, be acquainted

Come – draw closer, get nearer, arrive, reach, stretch

See these songs: Draw Me in to You, Talk to Me*

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