Safe Here
Read Time: 7 mins
“Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.”
Matthew 1:23 NLT
My friend Daniel Golovenko gave me a book by Skye Jethani called With. The book uses 5 prepositions to describe some ways many of us relate to God. Whole chapters, books and movies could and have been written on these types of postures towards God. Many of us live in a mix of a few of them. The postures are life Over God, life From God, life For God and life Under God. Some of us are living in a posture of life Over God. In this posture God is an afterthought. We don't have time for the mystery and wonder of God and would rather stick to more proven measures or controllable formulas. This may be birthed from God being used to abuse or manipulate in church or family. God was said to be one thing but shown to be another and therefore isn't safe, reliable or even practical to you. Similar to Deism, this idea believes that God exists but doesn’t believe He has practical worth in your everyday life. The value of God is neglected in this mindset and churches often try to sway you from here to one of the next postures.
Another posture is life From God. In this posture, God becomes a means to an end for us to have a blessed business, get the degree or secure the relationship. God is simply a power bank. A supernatural cheat code. In many cases we don't actually desire God, we just want his supernatural help. Consumer Christianity, posterity Gospel and health and wealth theology are related to this.
The third posture is life For God. This is a life in which the most significance is created in accomplishing great things for God. In this we find our value in what we do for God instead of God himself. This may seem like the best but it often results in an arrogant and hurried lifestyle that makes time with God or loving regular people like God does impossible.
The fourth posture is life Under God. This life posture views God as a vending machine. I put something expected in, and receive something expected out. It’s a means to control a God you're really afraid of. It comes from a belief that our obedience to God earns us favor from God. “I did this for God so now I deserve this back.” Many early religions worked like this but we see it all through our modern views of religion too. Years ago it was “I do a sacrifice or ritual and the gods bring a harvest next year”, but it can now be seen through situations like Steve Johnson's tweet after dropping a potentially game winning pass in overtime. “I praise you 24/7!!! And this is how you do me!!!” Or even our ideas that people with hurt or pain didn’t obey God enough or do the right thing and that is why they’re hurting. We try to control God by putting Him into debt through our obedience or praise, expecting Him to respond by doing our bidding in exchange for our worship or religious behavior.
You may notice that many of these are similar. They result in action but no inner reality changes. They make you feel like you know God but result in hurt and disappointment. Jesus described the Pharisees as being white washed tombs or half washed dishes. They were clean and beautiful on the outside but dirty and decaying on the inside. And many of these views towards God can have us like this. Speaking of God with a theological or philosophical acumen without any personal connection. They may lead to us speaking of God as workers at a large corporation may speak about the CEO they see in pictures but have never met. Something related to and understood from some point of view but never experienced.
The final preposition tries to correct this, life With God. This should be the focus. Skye points out the fact that if the Bible was a play, the opening and closing scenes would both be the same, God coming to be with us. In Genesis we see God creating, dwelling and ruling with community. And in Revelation we see God coming back to do the same thing. All through the Bible we see that one of God's core traits and motives is to be with us. Tabernacles were built so that God could travel with the people. A baby was born on earth so that God could dwell with the people. Jesus was nicknamed “a friend of sinners” because of how much time He spent with regular people. John starts his gospel by reminding us that the Word was with God and the word was God, pushing that fact that God is a God of community.
God isn't one to be an afterthought or patrol officer. God isn't a checklist marker to make sure your day or school year goes well. God is a God of personal intimacy. God's primary desire is to be with you. This may be hard to understand considering the idea that God is holy and wholly other, yet that adds to the brilliance of who He is. The creator of the universe isn't someone to be afraid of or a power you must appease. He isn't someone to hide from or lie to, verbally or in action. Even in the garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve sin, God's not seen storming through the trees with lightning in His hand and judgment on His mind. The Bible does however say that God continued His normal routine to come down to be with them. Even in your brokenness, God's primary desire is to be near to you. That’s why sin hurts Him. It unmakes His creation and separates you from a loving father who has a longing for genuine intimacy and friendship..
Our goal shouldn’t be to work for God, rushing ahead of Him. Our goal shouldn’t be to gain from God, using and leeching off of Him. Our goal shouldn’t be to be under God, placing on further burdens to gain His attention or favor. And our goal shouldn’t be above God, unaffected by a God we can’t trust. Our desire should be to be with God as He desires to be with us. To come to Him with our weariness and burdens and allow Him to give us rest. To live in a life of sabbath or rest and not worry about supporting or protecting ourselves through our own power, knowledge or ability. To be with God takes courage. It takes courage to slow down and rest with Him. It takes trust to truly believe we can be our naked selves around Him. But I want to remind you that God is safe. You don’t have to put up a facade. You don’t have to put on an act or prepare before going. God sees you at your best and your worst and sees you the same. He made a decision to love you standing on His never changing power and faithfulness and not your flighty weakness. God desires to be with you and you are safe to be with Him. Try to walk with Him today. Sit with Him. Rest with Him. Do life with Him as one would do life with a friend. Praying without ceasing is just like how you casually text your friend throughout your day. Allow Him to inhabit your space and mind. His primary desire is to be with you and love you. He is safe.
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