God: A Vision of Closeness

You are running a hard race. Hardly five minutes pass without a reminder buzzing like a bee in your ear. Hardly a day finishes without your to-do list growing like garden weeds. You are wondering, “when can I catch my breath?”

You want to slow down and be with Jesus. You know about God, you lead others towards Him, but you feel you barely connect with Him.

You want to go deep, but much of life feels shallow and rushed. How can God bring you from where you are to be closer to his heart?

What if you can be intimate with God by letting Jesus open the hurting and fearful places in your life?

This what we have wrestled with as we have embarked on the adventure of Wind and Sail. We write our songs out of our relationship with the Lord. The hope Jesus gives us, the way he has carried us, the purpose he has adopted us into.

But we get too busy. We lose focus. We fear.

How can we be brought back into his rest in a world of rush?

In this article you will delve into:

Where intimacy with God can be found and how it is threatened
Scriptures and practices to help you live in intimate communion with God
Our favorite songs for resting in closeness with Christ

But first . . .

Why are you here?

It is important to slow down, take a breath and consider, “why did I click this article?”

Perhaps you feel close to Jesus and want more. Perhaps you never felt close and wonder if it is possible. Perhaps you find it difficult to articulate what intimacy with God looks like, or how one gets there.

For us, we wrote this because we found that sometimes the more you talk and sing about someone, the less time you can end up spending with them.

Intimacy with Christ is an open invitation that I all too often leave unopened. How about you?

Common pitfalls

To be intimate with the Father, it is key to understand what pulls you away. Have you thought:

I want to be close to God, but I’m afraid things in my life won’t pan out; it’s hard to trust.

I am doing good things for God and for others - I don’t feel super close but I am busy with what He cares about, isn’t that enough?

I have too much going on to slow down right now - I’ll push through and catch up in a few months.

I’ve been in dark places, and taken part in things I’m ashamed of – I have a lot of guilt.

It feels very foreign to my experience to think of God as “Father”.

I believe God’s promises are true in the “big-picture”, but I doubt he cares about my personal life.

I know a lot about Jesus, but I am not a very emotional person, I don’t think my relationship with God will ever look “close”.

The song “Remind” actually came out of a place of knowing lots of good, Scriptural truths, but failing to allow my heart to internalize them. I had let the voice of stress have too much airtime in my mind. But I was hungry to be recalled back to the rich, grounded rest of Christ’s goodness to me.

The Father’s Heart

I believe you are here because you are hungry. And I believe you are hungry because your Heavenly Father is knocking, calling you into his innermost chambers (Rev. 3:20). Jesus is welcoming you to the table, eager to fill you with the feast of his full Holy Spirit presence.

So, why haven’t we eaten?

Why we feel far from God

Two battlegrounds fight to tear your heart from Jesus . . .

1. Our context

Intimacy lives in stark contrast to the rhythms of modern culture.

The frantic push towards productivity shouts, “Do! Go! Rush!”

Intimacy whispers, “Stay, share, wait, enjoy.”

The gnawing consumer mindset urges, “Claim! Demand! Buy now!”

Intimacy asks, “Treasure me, pursue me, wait for me, rest with me.”

The world teaches us to be too busy for God, ordering Jesus to conform to our image.

2. Our heart

Intimacy runs counter to our cracked sin nature.

God made you to enjoy an eternal relationship with Him. One where you are free to live out his purposes for his glory with full joy.

But we are broken people. We are islands who have burnt our bridges. We are hurting hopefuls who sell ourselves to the highest bidder.

The biggest obstacle to our intimacy with Jesus is our sin–we struggle to be intimate because we have already rejected closeness with God.

We cry out, “Jesus, how can I be brought close to You again?”

By receiving God’s character and his Gospel message.

Who is this God?

And why do we want to be close to Him?

Imagine - when was the last time you sat by a campfire? The chill of the night drew you to the pulsing coals, coaxed your numb fingers over wild tongues of flame.

But you would never pick up a burning log. You would not step in.

Fire is warmth, light, and life. But it exposes something about you - you are not like it. The fire is totally other. It is consuming.

Picture Moses: he had to hide in a mountain, in a cave to be safe enough to catch a diffused glimpse of the Holy God (Exodus 34). Otherwise he would have been undone.

Closeness to God was infinitely more terrifying for Moses than stepping into fire - but it left him indelibly changed. That fire brought him out of the shadows - it re-illuminated the beauty of the image God made him to be. It set him on a new path.

Intimacy is about deep knowledge–never forget the Lord you want intimacy with is not a docile helper - he is the all-powerful, all-holy, all-knowing Creator and Ruler of absolutely everything. Father and King.

The invitation to intimacy is to have our broken otherness reconciled by Jesus’s redeeming work on the cross. He makes a way for us to step into the fire.

How can I be intimate with God?

This sounds terrifying, right? If so, we have found the severely beautiful gate into intimacy with God.

For me, intimacy with God looked like stepping out into something that seemed dangerous. When we began Wind and Sail, we had to leave behind some security structures to put time and effort into creating art.

But while Abby and I prayed about what might be next, Jesus kept connecting us with Scripture and images of him being our true safety (Matthew 8:23-27). When we listen to God and his promises, he opens up wide plains of possibility and purpose. Closeness with him is not constricting - it is what connects you to the biggest, best life you are designed for: his glory and goodness at work in all creation.

Intimacy is transforming

Intimacy is the exposure of all we are to another. It is emotional nakedness. It is the undoing of coverups, the unraveling of lies, raw clarity.

You aren’t here asking for belief or proof. You are hungering for union with Jesus. This means you are asking to be united with the revealing God.

Jesus is inviting you out of the shadows of doubt, of shame, of busyness to be brought into his transforming radiance.

God gives us the gracious opportunity to be remade by this uncovering - to allow the Spirit to tear down our barriers, and bring us close.

At the moment of your fear and nakedness, when everything says “hide!”, the Lord stops at nothing to draw you to his hearth, to seat you at his table. It is faith in his redeeming love for you which clothes you in Himself. He will not leave his child in the cold.

Stepping stones to intimacy

It is this beautiful heart that is seeking you. Consider – could these be paths the Father is inviting you to walk with Him?

Feast on God → let his Word reorient your perceptions of Him and yourself
Tell God your hiding place → trust that Jesus will come to meet you
Rhythms of rest → challenge yourself to Sabbath. Practice resting in God–put work aside, invest in intimacy with Jesus
Pray your hopes and fears → meditate on the Lord’s prayer, tell the Father your heart. See how he begins to heal and shape you. Also see Bill’s Apprentice Prayer
Habits of worship → cultivate an expression that outflows from your passions towards God in worship. Pray that it be done as a direct line of love to God
Step out in faith → is there something God wants you to do? Don’t wait
Join Jesus’ mission - Be like the Samaritan woman, who said “Come, see a Man Who told me all I ever did!” (John 4:29)

Scriptures to meditate on intimacy with God

Colossians 1:15-23 → How does knowing Christ’s character pave a way for being intimate with Him?
Matthew 14:22-33 → How do you think Peter’s experience impacted his sense of intimacy with Jesus?
Psalm 139 → How does hearing how intricately God knows you open paths to deeper fellowship?
1 Kings 18-19 → Can you relate to Elijah? One moment leading victoriously, the next feeling alone
Isaiah 6:1-8 → How can you understand how the holy, all-powerful God makes Himself intimate to Isaiah?
Romans 8:31-39 → If the opposite of intimacy is separation, what do you find in this promise?
John 4:1-29 → How is this interaction a picture of Jesus initiating intimacy?
Jeremiah 29:4-14 → This was written when the Israelites were in exile - how does this give you hope where you are?

As you go forward

Your heavenly Father has never stopped pursuing you. It is so exciting and encouraging that Jesus takes the lead on cultivating an intimate relationship with his children.

So allow Jesus to rebuild your bridges. Receive his welcome to be brought into the transforming fire of his love. Let today be the day where you are rested at his table, leaning on his deep love.
If you want to experience a closer relationship with God more, this article from Soul Shepherding offers three specific steps to greater intimacy with Jesus.

We would be honored if our music helped you see beyond where you are to a vision of God’s goodness in your life.

“Timeless” is about the hope of God’s Kingdom over and against the rushing clock
“All Things Together” is about how Jesus holds absolutely everything together
“Look Up” is about God overcoming our doubts and insecurities

Finally, here are some of the songs that have been means of grace for us to be recalled to God’s goodness. We’d love for you to be blessed by them too.

Playlist

Keep pressing into Jesus.