Friday, Sept. 29, 2023

As a REALTOR®, I am passionate about seeing people grow in their faith journey. That may seem odd because what does spirituality have to do with buying or selling a house? Let me tell you, A LOT! When a person or a couple is spiritually grounded, they have peace in decision-making. I love praying with my clients before we go looking at houses. And praying with them as we get their house set up for sale. There is so much serenity in living into what God has called you to. They and their families thrive because they hear from God and choose to follow His direction for their lives.

Perhaps you’ve already made a big D decision to follow an intentional faith journey with God. Whether or not you know how to walk closely with Him, making that choice is phenomenal. Maybe you are new to the journey or have traveled it for years without feeling like you are getting traction with an intimate relationship with God. I hope to encourage you today that you have the opportunity to go deeper with God than you have ever gone with another person. God is the perfect friend; unlike humans, He is faithful to you without end, and He’ll never let you down. 

Perhaps you are asking, “How do you become intimate friends with someone you don’t physically see and who you don’t necessarily hear?” Ken and I have found it very similar to a married relationship in that, first of all, it’s a choice. How do we feel more intimate with each other? As a couple, we are intentional about drawing closer together. We set aside time to connect, share our deepest feelings, and discuss our day. It’s very much like this when connecting with our Creator. Much of what we’ve learned about intimacy with God has spun out of our relationship. 

So, what does it mean to connect with another person? How do you deepen a relationship with a spouse or friend? When you consider it from this perspective, it’s really quite simple. A significant part is sharing your heart. 

It says in Genesis 3:8-10, “Then the man [Adam] and his wife [Eve] heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden…” It would be really strange if God only came into the garden for the first time after they had sinned. This verse indicates that God had a habit of walking in the garden with them. I’d even suggest that God was coming in the cool of the day because that’s when He knew it would be more comfortable with them. This might have even been a daily habit He had with them. 

Here is what the Bible says about Noah in Genesis 6:9, “This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God.” What about Enoch: “Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” Genesis 5:24. What Hebrew word is used for “walk” in these verses? The word “halak”, which actually translates to our word, “walk.” I’m not suggesting here that we need to take it literally and that we have to go for a walk with God… and perhaps we can learn from the idea of literally going for a walk with God! 

It’s a bit ironic to write about this because my daughter-in-love, Amber, who is in the room, just received a text from her husband, my son Ryan, asking her to go for a walk after work. Ryan had gone on a retreat for the weekend and wanted to reconnect with her. How do they reconnect? They go for a walk together. It’s one of the things that works really well for them. Amber says she often goes for a walk with God as well, and this is one of her routines that draws her closer to Him. 

What does she talk about on her walks with God? Often, the same sort of things she talks about when she goes on a walk with Ryan. She shares what she did that day, how she felt about it. Her concerns about her kids, her worries for the future. She also reaffirms to Ryan how much she loves him and how important he is to her. Same with God. 

Ken and I do something different. Instead of walking, we spend much of our time together as a couple in our Tranquility room. It’s also where we go for anything spiritual, as individuals or as a couple seeking God. It’s basically a room where we have big lounge-type chairs. It has large windows with a lot of light and looks out over the ravine with a creek behind our property, our trees, and our garden. We used to call this room our Prayer Room, and we found it so beneficial for us as a couple as well that we changed the name to Tranquility. The funny thing is, the room isn’t always a peaceful place. Why? Because we’re sharing our deepest, most intimate thoughts with God and each other. It can be challenging to be honest, open, vulnerable, and transparent. When Ken and I strongly disagree, we head to the tranquility room to sort it out. When I am wrestling with God, I head there as well. 

Maybe for you, spending time with God is best on a walk. Sorting out your day, sharing your struggles, and giving your pain and your tiredness over to Him. Or maybe for you, it’s sitting every morning in a tranquility room, which is the way we tend to do it. In any relationship, intimacy is built in the communication, in wanting to be understood, and in seeking to understand the other person. God wants us to talk to him about those things, because He knows it builds the intimacy when we have that conversation. 

Ken and I start every morning in our Tranquility room seeking God. Why every morning? Because I need to start my day with God. And because if I don’t do things that are a little bit habitual, a little bit ritualistic, I can sometimes forget. If you’re like me, you have had rich experiences with the Lord, and you’ve had dry spells too. I know how to walk closely with God, and it’s often the itsy bitsy daily choices I make that sidetrack me. Sometimes I forget to do the things I know I need to do. Like Paul says in Romans 7:15: “For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate.” I am not, in this case, talking about something that is an actual sin, and sometimes I let life get in the way, or I get distracted. These things aren’t necessarily wrong; I’m not doing anything sinful necessarily, and yet, my behavior isn’t following the intention I have set for myself spiritually. It makes sense, really. It’s hard to be intimate with someone you don’t really know and who doesn’t really know you. 

It’s easy to falsely complicate things when we consider that God already knows what we are going to say. He has seen every moment of our day and knows how we are feeling. When we assume He doesn’t want to hear these things or that we are bothering Him by going into “trivial” aspects of our lives, we’re putting up a wall. It’s a major block if we buy into this lie. 

If you are struggling with deepening your relationship with Him, I’d encourage you to ask yourself: “Have I told myself that God doesn’t need or want to hear from me?” And also, ask yourself: “What have I been withholding from Him that He wants to know?” Perhaps it is a sin that you’ve been hiding, or maybe it’s simply your day. How you feel. What you are worried about. Nothing is too trivial to share with Him. He knows that these things create intimacy. He wants to “walk” or “sit” with you – He wants your intentional action to be with Him. 

If you are interested in finding out more about daily habits and following through with our intentions, email us at together@dekkerteam.com. Our soon to be released newest book, “LIFEˣ: Simple Steps to Achieving a LIFE Exponential” is coming out soon! It is an amazing resource packed with ways to enhance your relationships, your finances, your physical and mental health, and your spiritual LIFE. Email us so you can be one of the first to know when it comes out.