I went to a party.

Well, not a party, more of an intimate gathering of friends. Real friends.

The kind that I know and they know me back.

When I was there, I noticed a friend that was super distant.

I was at one side of the room, and they were at the other.

I would move to their side of the room and either they would casually move away, or stare blankly into the air.

I have no idea how I cold have possibly offended my friend.

We have both been very busy and haven’t talked in ages. Neither one of us have called or emailed since our last visit, but for us that is normal.

I made specific, intentional moves to try and warm up the situation. It was to no avail. But then, something happened….

That Reminds Me…

Before I share what happened, I wanted to share with you what it reminded me of.

It reminds me of our relationship with God. Sometimes, it’s great!

With a lot of exchange…

We’re talking, listening, engaging in relationship… enjoying each other’s company… laughing, crying and I come away feeling loved.

Other times, well… I get busy.

I get distracted, pulled on and I intend to stop and carve time out for Him, but I just have things to do — even when He is right in the room with me ALL the time.

For example…

I’m in the car alone, and somehow it doesn’t occur to me to start a conversation with Him even though He is sitting right there waiting for me to talk to Him.

I get up early with the intent to pray and read then time whisks by with menial household tasks and He gets put on the back burner.

How does He feel?

I wonder if He feels like I did at the party…

Does He wonder how He could have possibly offended me to the point that I won’t engage in conversation?

Does He feel like He walks to one side of the room and I walk to the other?

Does He hurt when this happens like I hurt when it happened to me?

Wow! Wouldn’t it be terrible to be hurting God’s heart inadvertently by just ignoring him?

Back at the Party

Well, at the party, it was like someone flipped a light switch in my friend and BAM — in one moment — all was normal again.

We were talking and laughing and having a great time. All was reconciled in one moment without a word about it.

It can be that way with God you know. BAM!

We can just start talking to Him again like we never got too busy, too distracted, forgot or whatever our lame excuse might be. (Yeah, I called it a lame excuse because COME ON – what real good excuse can we have for not talking to God?)

So right now – quit reading and talk to Him. He’s a better listener than I am anyway.