Our Personal Knowing of God

What have you learned about yourself as a result of your experience with God?

And what do you know about God as a result of genuine encounter with your self?

The first thing some Christians would say they know about themselves as a result of their relationship with God is their sinfulness. And quite possibly the first thing they would say they learned about God from this was God’s forgiveness and love. These are important things to know. But what else do you know about yourself and God that has arisen from your encounter with the Divine?

While many of us have followed Jesus for much longer than the three years we have tracked in Peter’s journey, too often we have not allowed the initial introduction to deepen into a deep, intimate knowing. Though we glibly talk about a personal relationship with God, many of us know God less well than we know our casual acquaintances. Too easily we have settled for knowing about God. Too easily our actual relationship with God is remarkably superficial. Is it any surprise, then, that we haven’t learned very much about our self as a result of this encounter?

From: The Gift of Being Yourself: The Sacred Call to Self Discovery

Pausing for Reflection
● Don’t allow yourself to be distracted by guilt if you judge your own relationship with God to be superficial. Hear God’s call to a deep personal encounter as an invitation, not a reprimand. It is an invitation to step out of the security of your boat and meet Jesus in the vulnerability and chaos of your inner storms. It is an invitation to move beyond objective knowledge to personal knowing. The question is, how will you respond to this invitation?

I enjoy David Benner's books and his weekly Something to Ponder posting? If you are interested, you can find him at: www.drdavidgbenner.ca/blog

>