Deep unto Deep
Man alive!! It’s been way too long since I shared something in this delightful little section of our website! My personal journal is replete with entries, but transferring something from the garden of my heart into public print is something I do with holy fear (reverence). I want to be transparent, a woman of integrity (the same in public and private: a whole woman), but I must be careful not to cast the treasures of my heart casually about. Know what I mean?
This section was always meant to be an invitation to know me more personally, to glimpse the woman I am and I am becoming. It’s also a wonderful place for me to process creatively this mystery of life, God, myself, you…everything. So thank you friend, whoever you may be, for drawing near and letting me share.
Today, I want to share something that’s been a long time coming. It’s an idea that bubbled up from deep within during our time in Spain. Just 2 weeks ago I had the privilege of sharing a Biblical Symbolism class at Bethany College of Missions; for our final assignment we had to write a few pages about any symbol in the Bible we wanted. But I knew that I knew that this was my divine opportunity to finally dive into this idea I’d been pondering in my heart for months. Rather than an exploration of one symbol, it’s a brief exploration of a series of symbolic relationships that reveal (in my humble opinion) a progressive revelation of intimacy. God’s heart desire towards us humans is that we know God; not as a mere intellectual exercise, but in growing intimate relationship. God gives so many pictures of the type of relationship He desires for us to enter into with Him. I selected four (two from the Old Testament, two from the New) Potter to Clay, Shepherd to sheep, Father to Son, Bridegroom to Bride, to explore this idea…no, this REALITY, of relationship.
Yeah, I’m convinced this isn’t a good idea to tickle the mind and give us warm fuzzies. It’s TRUE because it’s TRUE. God is inviting each one of us to return to relationship and then mature in intimacy. He has so much more for us that we dare imagine possible….I for one, by His Loving Grace, will risk it all (reputation, health, financial prosperity, comforts, on and on) to “lay hold of that which Christ Jesus lay hold of me”. He’s worth it…and He thinks I’m worth it…and I know that He think you are worth it.