Affections Towards God

"God is most glorified when he is affecting us and not just known by us."

I found the quote above from this post and it resonated with a lot of what I've been thinking and feeling lately.

How do you feel towards God? Not just what do you think, but what emotions arise in you when I mention the person of God? Is it fear or guilt? Is it hatred and resentment, from loss or suffering that a loving God should have averted? Is it warm and fuzzy feelings of love and contentment?

I know we should not base our decisions solely on emotions. Emotions are shaky ground for decision-making. However, I think we underestimate the importance and significance of our emotions and more specifically, how we feel towards God.

It isn't simply about having a warm, fuzzy feelings towards the idea of God, but actually having a relationship with God that includes our emotions, not simply our minds. I'm reminded of Jesus' response to one of the religious leaders of the time, and the question of which commandment is the greatest. Jesus said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind". Love God. Not just obey God. Or fear God. Or trust God. Or worship God. Love God. In a human sense, we have a plethora of ideas, misconceptions and beliefs about what love is. Everything from romantic comedies to our affection for our pets, from our love/hate relationships with our siblings to the the old couple in the Notebook that made us cry, Love is hard to pin down in a word or a phrase. But, despite its ambiguity, we all know what love is and when it's missing. It touches something in us deeper than a mere feeling. It's something in our spirit/soul (the intangible part of us). And the most important thing for us as humans, in relation to God, from Jesus Himself, is to love Him. Obedience, fear, trust, worship, etc. all play an important part of that. But do we love God?

This past weekend, I visited a dear friend of mine in Florida. She's known me since my days at Cedarville University... and that's quickly becoming something of the long distant past! The weather was forecasting thunderstorms the entire weekend. My understanding of prayer in general still involves a lot of confusion and should warrant a post all its own, but it's suffice to say, I prayed that it wouldn't rain while I was down in Florida, just like Elijah prayed it wouldn't rain for 3 years. I was only asking for 4 days! I had an hour layover in Orlando, where I watched out the window as it rained cats and dogs and probably several other species of domestic animals. But I had prayed and wasn't going to lose hope yet. I got into Ft. Myers and the sun was out and it didn't rain the entire weekend but more than 10 minutes while we were driving! I flew out of Ft. Myers back to Orlando where my flight was delayed because of the torrential downpours and thunderstorms. The entire weekend and its blue skies and sun felt like God was saying "I love you, Michael" the entire time. I totally understand how faith and presuppositions could make one person say that it was just coincidence and another the hand of God. That whole argument aside, my heart felt a deep gratitude and joy towards God all weekend. It wasn't simply that God did what I wanted... It was more than that for me, though it's hard to express in words. I felt the attentive, kindness of God towards me and the things I'm learning about Him. It confirmed for me that God is a loving Father and cares about the things we care about. It's as if it's important to Him that we really know Him and how He feels about us. God didn't need to hold back the rain this weekend. And He would have been no less kind and good and loving. But in His unfathomable wisdom, He gave us sunshine in that corner of Florida for the whole weekend, parting the thunderstorms like a page out of the Exodus story. I am deeply humbled and thankful at such condescension from such a holy God towards His children...

That experience stirs me. It made God that much more personal. It seems like He's been doing that a lot more these days, as if He's trying to get through to me and draw me into something deeper than simply religion or rules. Do we love God? Can we see His hand in the things around us? Do we know His love for us deep in our spirit, more than simply believing the idea that God is loving? What emotions does God stir in us? David and the other writers of the Psalms spoke of a whole gamut of emotions, from ecstacy to despair. God ellicited a deep emotion within them, because He was real to them. I think the lack of genuine emotion in my life towards God thus far has simply been because I have grown up with the theory of God. "God so loved the world" was just a popular verse that you quoted when you were trying to get other people to believe what you believe. Lately though, I'm crashing into the reality that God personally loves us as individuals. He knows us deeply and likes who He made us to be. He sees potential in us and desperately wants for us to hold His hand and let Him refine us. His heart breaks for us when we don't understand the pain we're in and can barely get through the day. Like a loving Parent, He is guiding us, knowing just when to give and when to hold back, so that we can mature and learn to be strong and choose what is right and best and loving. And He is the most fiercely loyal Friend that we'll ever have. That kind of love brings tears to my eyes. That kind of a God affects me. And that kind of love makes me want give absolutely everything I am to Him, in trust and worship and adoration and service... and suffering if need be.

I think it's crucial that we know God, in all His holiness, grandeur, righteousness, beauty, justice, mercy and love, etc. but that knowledge needs a response. And the response He requires and desires from us?

To love Him back.

In light of who He is and all He's done, to love HIM.