What's On My Heart

"I am not afraid of God."

THE NAME of Jesus is spoken out of relationship with Him. In the power of the Spirit who is united with Him, and not from our own mind. I made this analogy the other evening, and it sits with me today. When we see Him face-to-face, and He is staring back at us, what will be our reaction? Many say they are in a relationship with Him, yet they never talk to Him nor know more about Him than a handful of Scriptures. Hold with me here. Because the Scriptures are vastly important. But just as we are told Old Covenant people looked into the future and the words spoken of the coming Messiah (Hebrews 11:13,39-40); they knew Him only in prophecy and in promises God would fulfill; we have limited Him to gospel stories and conclusions we’ve drawn about His nature and who He is as King.

Making the question more personal, and I’m removing, for a time, the “fall down at His feet” thought that is usually repeated amongst us from the Scriptures: What will I do when I see Him in person? Because if you truly KNOW HIM and have spent time talking to Him, it will not be awkward and distant, as if you’ve just met. Relationship means the unity of two people from the sharing of thoughts and ideas, likes and dislikes, because of tender care, because of love for each other.

“And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters … And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not;” (Revelation 1:12-17)

Jesus reacts to things in our modern-day world. He has thoughts and emotions that He will share with those who pursue His friendship. But here’s another question: What can God trust you with? God only tells us what we can handle, what we will treasure and use well. He knows our every thought, our every intention, down to its finest meaning (Hebrews 4:12). We cannot pull the wool over His eyes, so to speak. He has our best health in mind. He wants us to be joyful and confident in the knowledge He’s given us. But He wants us to have more than knowledge. He would also place His heart in our hands.

He will not give it to those who are untrustworthy. He is Truth, and He is patient and kind. He does not make mistakes with our emotions and our state of mind. Where we might say something to someone else who will not pay attention to it, and then we are filled with regrets, He never does. He never has regrets.

The fear of God does not keep us from knowing Him intimately. We’ve made Him austere, in the church, and have taken away His humanity. Jesus grew up among us (Isaiah 53:2). He had parents who taught Him to walk and talk and how to be a trustworthy man. He had siblings He horsed around with, and He grew in knowledge and wisdom of the Truth of God (Luke 2:52), so that by age thirty, He knew who He was and what He was on earth to do. But He did it amongst people. He called His disciples His friends (John 15:15). And He walked in the Spirit just like we do, hearing from Him and knowing His voice. He accepted things He was told by Him, at times not fully seeing their complete picture beforehand. Including His death on the cross, moments in time when He trusted God in Him and upon Him the most.

The fear of God makes us trust Him, and it makes us aware of His beauty, of His holiness. It does not prevent our relationship with Him from becoming just as “everyday”, to use a word, as those we make between modern friends and with our family members. When I get to heaven, and I see Him face-to-face, there will be joy and no awkwardness at all.

I joke about this. I know He is God, so I joke about falling down at His feet. And He laughs. God has a VOICE. The Father has a VOICE. The Spirit has a VOICE. They can take a joke and laugh about it. They understand humanity. We are created in their image and after their likeness. Psalm 139 says, They know our thoughts before we speak, and I personally love this as it means I can skip trying to explain things. In fact, the shoe is on the other foot. They explain things I mean to me, and I am often surprised. What I am not is: afraid to say what is on my heart. I am not afraid of God.

I joke. They laugh. It isn’t awkward. He died for me by name, so that I’d have this friendship and grow in grace and favor with Him, and there would be nothing between us at all.

“Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” (John 15:15)

“Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.” (John 21:7)

Photo by Shana Van Roosbroek on Unsplash


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com