Alone with God
Last week, we decided to sit on the far side wall of the church facing the side of the audience. During the praise songs, we were singing this song...

You are holy
You are mighty
You are worthy
Worthy of praise
I will follow
I will love you
All of my days...

As we sang this sound, I looked out over the audience and watched people worship God. It was powerful and I had a revelation. God spoke to me watching these people worship. Many had both of their hands stretched up like a baby wanting to be picked up by their Daddy. Others had their eyes closed as they sang. A few smiled brightly with their eyes closed. A few others were crying.

I focused on a friend on the front row. Her husband was beside her, her young son and daughter on the other side. I know this girl very well - we grew up together. She and her husband have a totally souled out relationship with God. They are not "pretty" people. They don't play society's games. They are intently focused on their walk with God.

But in this moment, I focused on Nancy. A wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend to many, in that 3-4 minutes, she was totally alone with God. Eyes closed, arms stretched upward and focused on every word she sang to the Lord....

You are holy
You are mighty
You are worthy
Worthy of praise
I will follow
I will love you
All of my days...

Nothing else mattered in that moment for Nancy. She and God were millions of miles away from her earthly responsibilities. She wasn't a Mama, she wasn't a wife - she was totally alone with her Father. And there, in that moment, I was stuck with a word from God - my walk with God is ALL that matters. Compared to God, my wife and daughters don't "matter". To say they also matter greatly diminishes the enormity of God. One day all will be stripped away. My job won't matter. Taxes won't matter. Investments won't matter. Houses will be torn down. Our spouses and kids won't have the role they have on this earth. In that final and eternal moment, it will be me and God. It will all be about God and my walk with Him. It is God and God alone.

Now, I am not saying literally that nothing on this earth matters - that I should just focus on God and no one else. God gave me a wife and kids and a job and areas of service and He expects me to provide and care for those entrusted to my care.

But that worship experience drove home the real point - that ultimately and in the final analysis...what matters is God in the sense that to compare him to my wife or my daughters or my career is to just so greatly diminish who God is. He is worthy of no comparison.

And yet, I have find myself compartmentalizing God. I pull Him off the shelf for a short while and quickly put Him back away when I am done needing him. What God showed me was He craves full-time relationship with me. God doesn't want a part-time relationship with us. He desires constant, loving fathering of His children. Constant communication, constant asking "What about this Lord?", constant seeking... "Who is it You want me to reach out to?", constant studying "Lord, what does Your Word want to show me today?" and constant thanksgiving for the marvel of His grace and love.

I was liberated (here again, the Great Liberator has yet again opened another jail cell and set a part of me free...) last Sunday. God showed me. I get it!

Soar!