By Naomi Rossow
My boyfriend and I have been dating for four months now. Half of that has been in quarantine. After dating for two months, we were forced into a long-distance relationship by Covid-19. Last night, I was reflecting on our situation. And, I made a comparison between my involuntary long-distance relationship with him to my involuntary long-distance relationship with my God.
In the same way that my boyfriend and I were forced away from each other, we were forced away from our God by that first act of sin. We live our day to day lives in a long-distance relationship, a relationship that was created to be an every day, intimate one. God goes through each day and night watching and missing us, wishing our relationship was the perfect way it was meant to be. The Father misses his children, and wants them to come home.
My boyfriend and I talk on the phone each night for hours. We have movie nights and started a TV show together… I wonder if God wants to “start a TV show” with you… I mean, God wants to be a present part of your life despite the distance. God longs for us to be together again.
It can be so easy to go through our daily lives without giving a second thought to God until it is time for the prayer before dinner or bedtime. We stumble through our days, each one starting to look the same, not bothering to even give Him a call.
We tend to share our thoughts with God only when things are going bad. But, that’s not the only way we could be approaching this long-distance relationship. We could be longing every day to be with our Heavenly Father again. We could be praying “MARANATHA, COME QUICKLY LORD!” in desperation each day.
God doesn’t require a tragic event or joyous celebration to show up. God wants to be welcomed into the mundane thoughts of your daily routine. Jesus wants an invite to every second of your life.
So, give Him a call! Just a simple, “Hey, what are You up to today?” It doesn’t have to be in fancy old English and three paragraphs long for you to pray. Simply invite Jesus into your thoughts, into your life. Tell Him about your day like you would your friends. Bring Him into every emotion.
My family and I were talking at dinner tonight, and we came up with one of my new favorite prayers: “Dear Jesus, I don’t want to talk about it. Amen.” It is okay to not want to talk about it or relive it. Maybe all you want to do is pass out on your bed and the best prayer is: “Now I lay me down to sleep.” Jesus doesn’t care if you sound smart or sophisticated when you talk to Him. I mean imagine your friends’ expressions if you started talking to them like that. Jesus just wants to be a part of your life.
We were created to live intimately with God, and we are being forcefully separated from that life. So today I pray, “MARANATHA, COME QUICKLY LORD!”
Photo by Jeremy Yap on Unsplash
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