One With God

Years ago, Mack (my hubby) and I went camping at Hungry Mother State Park. Oh, my goodness, the Appalachian Mountains there are so wonderfully high, and we were both in hiking heaven. So were our dogs.

We’ve developed a family hiking system. Our small dogs act like contenders for the Iditarod Trail Sled Team, mushing for miles, even up steep hills. Since I am one to stop and admire moss, bark, rocks, bugs and…well anything else in nature, we hike “together apart.” He allows the dogs to be the trail bosses as they charge ahead.

As I walk, I pray. Sometimes out loud. Sometimes not. That day my prayers were asking God to help me work out a question. You see I’d been “confronted” by Christian friends that said I overthink the level of God’s participation in my life because I stated He is in tune every second with my thoughts, emotions, and breath. Well, although I didn’t say it, I thought the folks that confronted me were using God the way police call in a SWAT team, emergencies only.

So, as I walked, I pondered. My belief was centered on “always” and “without ceasing.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV) ¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

 

“Always,” meant every moment to me. But just in case I was being too dependent on God with every little detail. So, I asked Him. What exactly does it mean to have the indwelling of God’s spirit if He is not in every single nuance?

1 Corinthians 3:16 (NKJV) ¹⁶ Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

 

Along the hike, I stopped to experience wildlife. A wooly caterpillar, a red lizard crossing my path, a herd of deer bounding off nearby, their white tails just-a-bouncing. All of it filled me with so much joy! Then I heard Him down deep in my soul saying that when I feel joy, He feels joy too. Like what we feel when an infant finds our face, lights up with a smile, and kicks and coos. He delights in our delight whenever we connect. And God is always waiting for us to connect.

From that moment on I experienced double joy when all my senses connected. When I got excited about a downed tree covered in lichens, a patch of plush moss big enough to form a cushy seat. I felt Him with me as we thrilled over the song of a redwing blackbird and I witnessed the swish and whirl of a murmuring of starlings. I got it! My joy meant His creations were glorified through me, every single second. It seemed that suddenly my walk was one of awe, listening intently along with Him to the scolding caws of crows, inhaling deeply the smell of damp earth, being bedazzled by the sunlight streaming through the leaf canopy. It was as though I could hear Him saying, “Yes! We are together!”

When I got it. I really got it. I am designed to always recognize Him in all His zillions of forms, everywhere! He’s always connected to me. It’s me that must awaken to make conscience contact with Him. He is in my cells; He is my breath.

I stopped in my tracks on that steep incline covered in leaves. I took off my shoes and like Moses and Joshua allowed myself to feel it, I was standing on holy ground, where God revealed himself to me without question. Then I asked God for a sign. Something that I could know marked the occasion. Like an A on my paper, a check in the box.  “Lord, if I have this right that we are one, please give me a sign.”

I was thinking He might have a bird squawk over me, or a ladybug land on me.

Isaiah 7:11 (AB) ¹¹ “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God [one that will convince you that God has spoken and will keep His word]; make your request as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.”

Oh, but God had something much grander in mind than a squawk or a ladybug. He loves to pour out His favor on a grand scale. Two steps up the trail, the leaves were scattered exposing bare earth. The rock in the picture on this blog stared out at me, alone, nothing surrounding it. I couldn’t miss it. One.

Luke 19:40 (NET) ⁴⁰ He answered,^[a] “I tell you, if they^[b] keep silent, the very stones^[c] will cry out!”