What I Learned on Vacation about God
Last week my family and I went on our first cruise! It was a five-day Western Caribbean cruise with two stops in Mexico (Costa Maya and Cozumel). We had a great time!
Being on that ginormous ship, watching great shows, sitting on the beach, swimming in the ocean, and eating what seemed like almost endlessly was a lot of fun. But the best part? The best part about the whole thing was spending time with my family.
Being with my mom and dad, my brother and his family, and of course, my wife and kids was without a doubt my favorite thing.
We had two-hour dinners with no phones. We didn’t have service or Wi-Fi, which means we actually got to look at each other, tell stories, ask questions, and just enjoy being together as a family.
These are my favorite people. I honestly don’t think it would have mattered whether we were on a cruise or doing something else. As long as we would have been together and been truly present with each other, that would have been just as good.
I think God feels that way about us too.
DOING VS. BEING
I think most of us are consumed with what we are supposed to be doing. We want to be busy. It makes us feel important. We think it pleases God and probably puts us in good standing with Him.
But I don’t think God thinks about doing as much as He does about being with us.
Don’t get me wrong. Doing is important. I do believe God is doing Kingdom work that is extremely valuable and makes eternal impact.
But what I believe even more is that God is thrilled He gets to do it in you, with you, and through you. He adores you, loves spending time with you, and being in a relationship with you. Even more than what you are doing.
Matthew tells us about the time Jesus’ was baptized before He officially started His earthly ministry.
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
(Matthew 3:17)
What was God so pleased about? Jesus hadn’t really started doing anything. He hadn’t taught anyone. He hadn’t healed anyone. He hadn’t performed any miracles, fed the poor, comforted the broken-hearted. Nothing.
God was so pleased for Jesus to be His Son! He loved Him and was just thrilled in being with Him.
The same is true of you.
The apostle John tells us this in 1 John 4:10:
10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
(1 John 4:10)
Why did God send Jesus to be an atoning sacrifice for your sins? Out of His love for you.
Your sin separated you from Him. He sent Jesus to overcome the barrier that separated you from Him. He longs to be with you and for you to be with Him.
The good news is that He is always with you. The bad news is that we are not always fully present while we are with Him.
PUT DOWN THE CELL PHONE
I mentioned earlier that while we were on vacation with each other, we had long dinners without cell phones on our cruise. That made all the difference.
We’ve had time together before. We’ve had family dinners. But even though we’ve been together, we weren’t fully present with each other. We were on devices or thinking about what happened earlier in the day or what we still needed to get done.
The same is true with God.
He is always present. There is never a time that you are not with Him and that He is not with you. You don’t have to do anything to get near Him; you just have to turn your focus to Him in that moment.
He’s not looking for you to do something to get where you feel like you need to be. He’s not waiting for you to get to work so that He can come near to you again.
He’s always with you. Always. He just wants you to recognize you are with Him and that He is with you. He wants you to participate with Him in whatever you are doing.
In Christ, you are His son or His daughter, and in you He is well pleased.
