Sometimes we feel closer to God when we are doing certain things or in certain situations. This week, we are sharing what those are for each of us. On Monday, Elizabeth shared activities and places where she feels most connected to God that are outside the normally expected places and activities that you would expect. Today, I am going in a different direction and sharing the more expected ways that I often feel closer to God.
Studying the Bible: Whether at church, in a Bible study, or alone, I feel close to God when I am studying the Bible. That could include someone else teaching or preaching about a specific passage or it could be me reading a chapter or verse and striving to understand it better. I also like being in a Bible study and getting to hear other people’s perspectives on how they understand what we are studying. The Bible study that I am involved in is studying the book of John right now. It is very interesting to see throughout the book when people ask Jesus literal questions about physical things and He replies with spiritual answers. Looking at it from our perspective, we can understand what He meant with His replies, but the people who were there in the moment usually did not understand when He talked in spiritual ways. It makes me feel like I (and other believers) have a secret language with Jesus that only we understand!
Singing in the car: I love singing in the car when I am driving alone, as I am sure most people do. Most of the time, I have the Christian radio station playing, except when they don’t start playing Christmas music until December instead of the day after Thanksgiving. It is so nice hearing music that brings my mind to the Lord while I am in the car and, as long as the lyrics are not proclaiming some crazy theology that I don’t believe is true, I love to sing along. Singing along to worship music is so uplifting, especially in the car where I could be thinking about anything I want. Also, when I drive the little one around, we often point out anytime someone says “Jesus” or “God” in songs and when the radio hosts are talking. One of my favorite things about this is when we are driving along and then I suddenly hear “they said Jesus!” from the back seat.
Praying: How crazy is it that we can have a personal relationship with the God of the universe and talk to Him whenever we want? When we pray, we get to talk to God. We can tell Him how our lives are going, ask Him for things (within reason), praise Him for how awesome He is, thank Him for our salvation and what He has given us, and so many other things. I can go to Him when I am happy, sad, angry, frustrated, excited, scared, anxious, or any other emotion and He wants to hear it from me. He wants the back and forth of reading and studying the Bible (where He speaks to us) and praying (where we speak to Him). When I pray, I pray for myself and others as well as praying for His will to be done and for Him to get the glory in every circumstance.
Going to camp or retreats: I went to summer camp for many years growing up. It was a church camp up in the mountains and it was one of the most highly anticipated events every year. My church would send a big group of kids and we would go up to the mountains for a week to learn about God. We would get the mountaintop experience of feeling so close to God as we went to chapel twice a day and memorized our daily verses. I also went on many Winter Retreats with my church where we would go away for the weekend to study God’s Word and spend time with friends. In these times, both at camp and at Winter Retreats, it was easy to feel closer to God while being surrounded by chapel times and devotionals and then come home and feel not so close anymore
Mission trips and serving others: Over the years, I have gone on several mission trips and had many opportunities to serve other people. I love going on these trips and really getting to tangibly help, whether it is painting a church, helping prepare food, washing dishes, practicing English with people who are learning, or whatever else we may be doing. It feels good to help other people, from our next door neighbors to people across the world. There is one particular country where I have gone multiple times where we have helped at youth camps for college aged students. I love those youth camps. People from all over the country come to learn about and worship God together. One of my favorite parts is when they sing songs in their language that I know in English and I am able to sing along. It is so beautiful getting to worship God together despite not speaking the same language and gives a little foretaste of how it will be in Heaven forever.
What makes you feel closer to God? Is it usually a specific activity or somewhere you go? Or maybe people you spend time with? I would love to know!
Abbi