I have asked my good friend Kervin Raugust to write a guest blog. He serves at as the Lead Pastor of Global Church Ministries at Centre Street Church in Calgary. In recent years he has had his own life-changing journey of learning to pay attention to his soul.
The Path Less Travelled is…The Path of Contentment
Enjoying intimacy with God is a longing that grows with distance! For me, the longer I walk with God the more I want to be close to Him. This has not always been true for me and may not be for you yet. Even when distance from God felt strangely “OK”, there was a sense that something was missing. Moments of longing cause me to ask, “How do I get to a place of ever increasing intimacy with God?” and I feel at loss to answer this question.
The Psalmist David confesses this longing to “dwell” in God’s presence. He speaks of being near God as a really good place to be. Psalm 131:2 says, “I have stilled and quieted my soul like a nursed child with it’s Mother…” How sweet that picture is! Take a moment to see it. Can you see the relaxation, peace and trust – skin to skin, body to body, heart to heart, eyes to eyes? Fully present to each other. Experiencing one another beyond
words. Total satisfaction. Giving to one another what words cannot give. And the mother sometimes whispers tender words, sometimes sings, kisses, and caresses. And how the baby coos, smiles, and gazes back in such an intimate way.
Intimacy at this level is not about striving. It is about being. A nursed baby does not struggle or strive nor does baby resist, but instead receives, just receives. Perhaps the path to intimacy with God has something to do with becoming like a baby.
- Embrace the longing in your soul to be close to God “like a nursed baby content in it’s mother’s arms”.
- How desperate are you to feel loved and cared for like this?
- Speed of life is often the enemy of intimacy. What decision do you need to make in order to slow down enough to sit in God’s presence?
- What would your life be like if you made that decision now?
- Why not make it? How will you change your calendar in order to create “sit” time?
Fellow traveler… Kervin Raugust
*To learn how to be content in the presence of God, read – Invitation to Solitude and Silence by Ruth Haley Barton