Have you ever found yourself hesitating to quiet down and listen to God, because you are afraid of what you might hear? If God really speaks to me, he’ll probably send me to deepest, darkest Africa, or at least he’ll tell me I can’t drink coffee anymore.
Why do we do this?
Why do we assume that our Heavenly Father is only interested in giving us hard assignments or forbidding us pleasure?
God called Abraham his friend. He referred to Moses the same way. After they had followed him for a while, Jesus told his disciples, “I no longer call you servants, but friends.” The whole point of Jesus coming as Immanuel, “God with us,” God-with-skin-on, was so he could get close to us without freaking us out.
God paid a huge price to buy us back.
Do we really think all he wants is to be the boss of us? How fun is that?
When our children are young, we need to train them to obey; as they grow, we can enjoy a more mutually satisfying relationship. That’s what our Abba Father wants, too.
- Servants do their duty. Friends hang out because they enjoy each other.
- Servants do what is required. Friends do things for each other out of love.
- Servants carry out commands. Friends talk about deep things they care about.
- Servants listen and obey. Friends add to the conversation.
When my husband and I were praying about a major move years ago, we asked God where he wanted us to go. What we heard was: Go where you want to go, and I will go with you.
This was theologically unsettling. We figured God was supposed to give us marching orders and our job was to obey. But we adjusted our attitude, chose the place, and indeed God went with us.
Turns out he wants friends, not just servants.