Bowling Ball
The other day I realized that what I thought my relationship with God looked like was totally wrong. God showed me a picture of my idea of our relationship, and it looked so silly...
He showed me a picture of a bowling ball going down a lane. Though it was moving in the direction of the pins, it was going slowly and in a zigzag. If it got close to tipping into the gutter, the bumpers would push it back into the lane. Eventually, surely, it would make it to the pins. But would it have any real impact when it got there?
God showed me that I was viewing our relationship like the ball and the bumpers. In my mind, God's voice was the bumpers keeping me from tipping into the gutter. I know I know better, but in my mind, God was only speaking to me when I was getting close to "tipping off" of the edge of His plan for me. In my mind, I was doing "okay" enough on my own for Him to take His hands off and watch me roll about here and there and just whisper to me when I was veering from the plan entirely. I was confident that He would never let me fall, and that He would always be there to push me back on course when I needed it--like the bumpers push the bowling ball back into the lane. When I call to Him in distress, He always answers.
But this is NOT how God works. If we ask God to lead us and guide us, He does. God's voice does not serve as a bumper just to keep us from falling off course. He does not just stand back and only come to our aid when we call to Him in distress. He is always speaking to us, whether it's with an audible voice, an inner audible voice, a whisper, a spontaneous thought, feelings or impressions, a knowing, through Scripture, through other people, or through signs, pictures, nature and art. And when I stop and think about my life, I am FAR from tipping off the edge of the course. I don't even come near the gutter, because I walk in such grace. When you ask Him for His grace and guidance, He freely and generously gives it.
His Word says that He will make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). It says He will not let our feet slip (Psalm 121:3). It says He leads us beside peaceful streams and on paths of righteousness for His name's sake (Psalm 23:2-3). It says, "The path of the righteous is level; you, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth" (Isaiah 26:7).
Perhaps a better analogy of God's relationship to me would be the ping-pong ball/straw game. In this game, players guide a ping pong ball through a course by blowing on it with a straw. Similarly, God's voice and His provision directly affect me all the time. His breath is what constantly keeps me on course and in motion.
I suppose the reason I thought our relationship looked like a bowling ball and bumpers was because sometimes I feel far from God. Sometimes I feel like, though He keeps me from ever falling away from Him, He isn't directly influencing my course in every moment of every day. But I only feel like that because I don't always recognize His voice or His direct influence on my life. He is always speaking to me. He is always acting on my behalf and affecting the course of my life.
Sometimes I feel like He speaks to others much clearer than He speaks to me, but He speaks to me just as much and just as clearly as He does to them if I will just seek it out and recognize it. He may speak to me in different ways than He does to others. He may show Himself to me differently--in a way that I can understand and recognize Him. But just because He speaks to me differently doesn't mean He isn't speaking. And when I don't feel close to Him, it doesn't mean He has taken His hands off. It doesn't mean He isn't there. It just means I'm not looking for Him.
God didn't show me this picture just to set the record straight about Himself or to give me a hard time about what my mindset was. His purpose was to remind me that He is speaking to me--more than I realize or give Him credit for. He wanted to show me that my life is not aimless and that my momentum is not depleting. I am nowhere near the gutter, because He guides me carefully. He is so intentional with me, even when I don't notice Him. He is pushing me onward, on a straight path, toward the next big thing He has for my life, and toward "the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14).
He showed me a picture of a bowling ball going down a lane. Though it was moving in the direction of the pins, it was going slowly and in a zigzag. If it got close to tipping into the gutter, the bumpers would push it back into the lane. Eventually, surely, it would make it to the pins. But would it have any real impact when it got there?
God showed me that I was viewing our relationship like the ball and the bumpers. In my mind, God's voice was the bumpers keeping me from tipping into the gutter. I know I know better, but in my mind, God was only speaking to me when I was getting close to "tipping off" of the edge of His plan for me. In my mind, I was doing "okay" enough on my own for Him to take His hands off and watch me roll about here and there and just whisper to me when I was veering from the plan entirely. I was confident that He would never let me fall, and that He would always be there to push me back on course when I needed it--like the bumpers push the bowling ball back into the lane. When I call to Him in distress, He always answers.
But this is NOT how God works. If we ask God to lead us and guide us, He does. God's voice does not serve as a bumper just to keep us from falling off course. He does not just stand back and only come to our aid when we call to Him in distress. He is always speaking to us, whether it's with an audible voice, an inner audible voice, a whisper, a spontaneous thought, feelings or impressions, a knowing, through Scripture, through other people, or through signs, pictures, nature and art. And when I stop and think about my life, I am FAR from tipping off the edge of the course. I don't even come near the gutter, because I walk in such grace. When you ask Him for His grace and guidance, He freely and generously gives it.
His Word says that He will make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). It says He will not let our feet slip (Psalm 121:3). It says He leads us beside peaceful streams and on paths of righteousness for His name's sake (Psalm 23:2-3). It says, "The path of the righteous is level; you, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth" (Isaiah 26:7).
I suppose the reason I thought our relationship looked like a bowling ball and bumpers was because sometimes I feel far from God. Sometimes I feel like, though He keeps me from ever falling away from Him, He isn't directly influencing my course in every moment of every day. But I only feel like that because I don't always recognize His voice or His direct influence on my life. He is always speaking to me. He is always acting on my behalf and affecting the course of my life.
Sometimes I feel like He speaks to others much clearer than He speaks to me, but He speaks to me just as much and just as clearly as He does to them if I will just seek it out and recognize it. He may speak to me in different ways than He does to others. He may show Himself to me differently--in a way that I can understand and recognize Him. But just because He speaks to me differently doesn't mean He isn't speaking. And when I don't feel close to Him, it doesn't mean He has taken His hands off. It doesn't mean He isn't there. It just means I'm not looking for Him.
God didn't show me this picture just to set the record straight about Himself or to give me a hard time about what my mindset was. His purpose was to remind me that He is speaking to me--more than I realize or give Him credit for. He wanted to show me that my life is not aimless and that my momentum is not depleting. I am nowhere near the gutter, because He guides me carefully. He is so intentional with me, even when I don't notice Him. He is pushing me onward, on a straight path, toward the next big thing He has for my life, and toward "the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14).