Relational 

I was asked a question the other day that has been on my mind quite frequently.  What things are present in your life that help you grow?  Now, usually this is a simple question because it’s often asked by someone who is not taking time to experience Him in their life.  They aren’t listening to His word, they aren’t engaging in service with Him, and they aren’t connected with others.  But this was coming from someone who is listening, connected in serving, and sharing.  They listen to the podcasts I listen to, they are reading God’s word as I am, they are reading the books I’m reading.  It caused me to take a step back and look at how I’m growing.  What I found was extremely encouraging and at the same time enlightening. 

I discovered that the growth in my relationship with God doesn’t have to do with what I learn as much as it once did.  I’m just not learning new things about God on a consistent basis coming from external sources like I once did, and my growth is not centered on these things as they once were.  Most of the time as I read His word with Him, it’s things I’ve read many many times.  Most of the books I read are shining new light on things I know about God and helping me obey Him or teach something about Him.  But it’s not new information as much as it once was.  So, what is it? Because I seem to be growing more than ever before? 

The answer I found was in relation.  My growth right now is in how I relate to Him.  He’s moving me from an outsider to an insider.  He’s helping me to experience the fact that I’ve been adopted.  That doesn’t come with another passage about how I’m adopted, it comes from sitting on his lap each morning and just enjoying reading His word together.  In “The Papa Prayer” Larry Crabb talks of attending to how we view our God.  Right now, God is allowing me to see our relationship for what it is.  It’s relational growth.  I love how Andy Stanley introduced me to a new understanding of Esau and the bowl of soup at Catalyst, but that’s nothing compared to hearing God whisper each morning that He’s as excited to be with me as I am to be with Him.