How This Crisis Has Changed Our Relationship with God

This post is part 3 in the series. Check out how this crisis has changed our relationship with work and family.

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If you choose any home to be quarantined in during this crisis, which home would you pick?

Would it be a home of a celebrity, politician, entrepreneur or  medical professional? 

King David chooses something different. 

One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek:that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.

Psalm 27:4-5

King David chooses the house of the Lord all the days of his life. There is no better place for him than to be with the Lord. 

Most of us would agree with David. We want to be in the Lord’s house and dwell in his temple. But we can’t. We are not able to go to church on the weekends. We can’t have church functions and gatherings. We can’t do church the way we have been doing before the pandemic. This crisis has fundamentally changed our relationship and understanding of church. It’s altered the way that we do church.

While this  crisis has stopped the physical gatherings of people, it has also started a new and personal way to connect with God.  Don’t get me wrong, the church can still gather through small groups and services online. We all know that the church is not a building or location. It’s not a property or program. We can still gather and do church. But this crisis has given us to reflect more about the quality of our relationship with God. 

David’s heart and motivation is to be with God in his house.   David wants to gaze at God’s beauty and to seek him. David wants a relationship with God. He wants to be with God and sit at his feet. There is not any other reason or agenda. 

Typically, Sundays are long and busy days for pastors and volunteers. We are busy setting up and preparing to do church. Many of us don’t have those same responsibilities. We have a little more time and margin. It’s a strange feeling. But it’s also a gift for us to spend more time seeking after God’s face and being with him personally. We don’t have a commute time. We don’t have a weekend service to plan for. We have more time to seek God and gaze at his beauty. 

Now, some of us are more busy then ever. It may be due to our jobs changing or having more responsibilities with our kids and home life. Boundaries are more important than ever. We need to be intentional about protecting some time for God personally. It may be at night when the kids are asleep or waking up a little bit earlier. 

Most of us have the more time to seek God in a way that many of us have not in a while. This is a time for our faith to go deeper and stronger. It’s a time not to rush a relationship but to be with God in the relationship. 

“Relationships develop when people spend time together. Spending time with God ought to be the essence of prayer. However, as it is usually practiced, prayer is more like a series of email or instant messages than hanging out together. Often it involves more talking than listening. It should not be a surprise that the result is a superficial relationship.”

David Benner

We have time to not just send an email and text message to God but to sit at his feet like Mary. We don’t have to rush but we can spend time in prayer. We can actively listen rather than always speaking.  

This may mean reading your Bible more. It may mean praying more. It may mean memorizing scripture or joining small groups. It may mean having open and honest conversations with God. If you don’t know then ask a spiritual mentor, coach or pastor for ideas. Let us not waste this time being with God. 

And when we do this, we’ll get to see his promise in verse 5. God will take care of us. God will protect us. Not because we are doing anything for him but because we are his children that he loves. He wants the best for you. 

The most important relationship from this pandemic is God. Regardless of how this crisis is impacting  us, we need to develop and strengthen our relationship with God. We need to personally connect and build a relationship with God.