But if you sit back and think about it, you may find that you waste the most time with the people you are closest to... you may even find that wasting time with these people has deepened your relationship, affection for, and experiential knowledge of them as much as anything else.
I heard Eugene Perterson say something along these lines one time in regards to prayer and our time spent with God. Most of us have a relationship with God that is more like our relationship with the person who serves us at our favorite restaraunts than it is with our best friend, or our lover. We make petitions, say thank you, sometimes complain about things... but we do most the talking and the majority of it has some sort of purpose. It's more like transactional language and speech form than anything else.
Even if we have a healthy discipline of listening, or trying to listen for God in silence, we are normally expecting something useful, helpful, or immediately applicable for our lives to come out of that time, and when that doesn't happen, we may create the experience ourselves, or leave that time bummed out, feeling God is distant.
But imagine if we had this same attitude with our closest relationships? Imagine if all the time spent with our kids, our closest friends, our boyfriends or girlfriends, or our spouses had to always be purposeful... how empty and shallow would those relationships be. Some of the most full time I spend with my wife is spent just beeing together, talking about stuff that doesn't matter, or just sitting holding each other not saying anything.
Now, is this a waste of time? Is it a waste of time when you ask your child to tell you how their day was even if you already know? Is it a waste of time to hear a friend talk about how much they enjoyed something they experienced with you because you were there also? Is it a waste of time to just sit and talk about meaningless things with a person you are just beginning a romantic relationship with?
Of course it's not!! Those are, or at least should be, some of the foundational aspects of our relationships.
It's the same with God.
If God uses Father/son language and the picture of marriage to clue us in on our relationship with him, wasting time with him doesn't seem to be a waste at all.
One time, when Candice and I were first dating, we stayed up till 5am talking, not "purposeful" talking, just chit chatting. I fell in love with her that night.
So, as foreign as it may seem, and it may even take some practice/getting used to, I encourage you to make time to regularly waste time with God, with the one who loves you more completely than anyone else.
I can't imagine it will really be a waste at all.
Peace.
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