Being With the Father

The father of a tiny baby girl takes delight in every new little thing she does and can spend hours watching her — even when she’s sleeping.  This is how God views us.  He created the joy that comes from watching our children.  He then put that same joy in our hearts.  Just as when He finished creating the earth, He marveled at how excellent it was, He marvels at us now. (Genesis 1:31)

As a child grows up, she makes her own decisions and chooses her own way.  She may choose to include her father in her life or not.  She may choose to include God in her life or not.  But when she does choose to include him, it brings him great joy.  To have a child grow to be a friend and want to be with you is a great blessing.

But there’s a deeper intimacy that is rare.  It’s the desire to just be with the father — no discussion required.  Not for the purpose of asking anything, telling anything, showing or proving anything; not even blessing, honoring, praising or acknowledging accomplishments.  In this place, all the reasons we logically choose to be with a person are irrelevant.  No action is required; it’s purely the choice of being with him.

Here is the greatest level of intimacy.  There may be talking, there may not; such being is beyond words.  The father is blessed because we choose to just be with him.  It’s the picture of two elderly people holding hands on the porch at sunset.  They’ve said all they need to, now they can enjoy each other’s deep, abiding, knowing presence without saying or doing a thing.

We often overlook this way of being with a person or with God, because silence can be uncomfortable.  Maybe we’re afraid of being boring.  Personally, I rarely let myself do nothing.  Even in my meditation time with God, I find myself looking for something from Him.

Come be with God and let Him enjoy you.  You do not bore him!  He enjoys seeing who you are and the fact that you chose to be with Him.  Let Him love you with His presence, like a father does a baby; like the old man and his wife.  Don’t always rely on words and actions; bless Him by being with Him.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:13-16