Intentionality Series part 2 — Being Intentional in our Faith
This is part 2 in a 4-part series on Intentionality. If you haven’t read part 1, you can find it here!
I ended part 1 of this series by clarifying the difference between what seeking God is and isn’t. But now you might be wondering, “Ok, I know what seeking God is but how do I go about doing so?” This one’s for you.
As a Christian for almost 20 years, I can confidently say that I wasn’t ever outright taught how to intentionally seek after God or why it was important. I was mostly taught in youth group to read my Bible, not break any “rules”, and strive to follow Jesus. That mindset led to an extremely legalistic and stale view of who God was and what being a Christian actually meant. (More on that here). It wasn’t until the weight of how much God pursues us hit me that it all clicked.
The God of the universe WANTS to have a relationship with you. Let that sink in.
He doesn’t need us yet He wants us.
We fail Him yet He prospers us.
We betray Him yet He remains faithful to us.
What is this love?
“Once we have seen Him in a stable, we can never be sure where He will appear or to what lengths He will go, or to what ludicrous depths of self-humiliation He will descend in His wild pursuit of men.”
— Frederick Buechner
When I first heard this quote by Buechner I was a puddle of tears in a church service (no shame). The drastic measure that God took in inserting himself in our story is scandalous. It doesn’t make any sense. This reckless love, wild pursuit, and untamable passion for His children is mind boggling. As I tried to grasp and comprehend even a teardrop worth of this goodness, that’s when I began to realize how much more I wanted of Him. This began a quest of researching and studying how I could be more deliberate and purposive in my relationship with God. I wanted my faith to be more than just a God I pray to when I feel inclined, but a two-way relationship that I am growing and gleaning wisdom from. After all, God countlessly tells us in the Word to ask Him freely for wisdom. This level of depth in how we perceive the personhood of God is the foundation from which the rest of our relational wellness springs forth.
The Hebrew words for “seek” in reference to seeking God translate: “to go after, chase down, search for, and crave” (my personal favorite). How do we chase down and satisfy this craving for knowing our Father more?
- We seek Him through pursuing time with Him.
A friend of mine was chatting with a group of us and sharing how thanks to so many technological advancements we have in 2019 we have this convenient access to various Christian media that makes the pursuit of God somewhat easier. Think of the Bible App, church podcasts, etc. With that though is the caveat — is easier what God wants from us? We can turn on push notifications from our Bible app to send us a “verse of the day” and sure we read it, feel good about ourselves, and move on with our morning. But come 2PM that verse is long gone from our memory bank. There are far more powerful and transformative revelations that come with deciding to actively pursue time with Him. To sit and meditate on Scripture, to silence our minds in the morning even through the exhaustion and worries that cloud over us, and to simply ask Him to show us His face — that is intentionally pursuing time with Him. I have had verses jump out at me in such new ways through this practice; verses that I thought I had read countless times growing up that now take on such fresh application for the season I’m in. I’ve not only grown in my own faith through this discipline but also been able to encourage others I lead in ministry.
2. We seek Him through obeying Him.
I think very often we have this one-dimensional view of God where having access to Him might just look like praying when it feels convenient or when we want something. But to actually seek Him is saying yes to His wisdom and no to what our flesh desires as we journey towards sanctification. Psalm 34 implores us to turn from evil and do good — to seek peace and pursue it. This, however, is much easier said than done. I think Paul says it best:
“For I know that nothing good
dwells in me, that is,
in my flesh.
For I have the desire to do what is right,
but not the ability to carry it out.”
Romans 7:18
This verse has crushed me time and time again in the best way possible. Paul’s humility in sharing the truth of our depraved, sinful nature as humans pierces my heart and reminds me that we’re just dust. We’re basic dust that He breathes into glimmering stardust through His redemptive work.
Charles Stanley says it so well: “Obedience is an attitude we have to learn to embrace. It’s not a trait we automatically acquire when we become Christians.” The reality is we have to come to this place of desperation to actually seek Him wholeheartedly and sacrifice our pride at the cross. We have to admit we can’t do it on our own. We have to embrace this attitude of inviting the Holy Spirit to take over and fill us so that we can indeed obey Him. 1 Peter 1:15 reminds us “to be holy as He is holy” so therefore we can only get closer to Him through pursuing holiness. And ultimately, we are promised that through this obedience we will be blessed (Luke 11:28).
3. We seek Him through surrender.
Finally, one of the most important ways we can proactively seek God is through surrendering ourselves to Him. Our wants, desires, plans, and needs (aka: what we think we need).
In Drew Dyck’s book “Your Future Self Will Thank You” he writes that habits help us translate what we believe into how we behave. I want surrender to become my go-to habit.
When I’m stressed out, my first reaction is this desire to control the situation. On top of that what’s probably driving my stress through the roof is the reality that I can’t control the situation. With that being said, the closer I’ve grown to God, the more I realize I need to just let go. Through this art of surrendering our will to His we begin to experience a supernatural freedom as well as a fresh perspective to start seeing things through His eyes. We begin to see a glimpse of His character — His goodness, His provision, His trustworthiness, and His eternal faithfulness. And let’s not forget, surrendering takes humility. It’s not just a simple meditative practice of breathing out and “letting it all go” like our culture seems to view it as. It’s a process that challenges you and prunes you. And the results are glorious.
Dallas Willard in his essay “Living in the Hope of God” says:
So the humble are dependent upon God, not on themselves. They humble themselves “under the mighty hand of God.” (I Peter 5:6) That is, by depending upon God to act. They abandon outcomes entirely to him. They “cast all their anxieties upon him, because he cares for them.” (vs. 7) The result is assurance that the mission will be accomplished, in God’s time and in God’s way. In our love of Jesus and his Father, we truly have abandoned our life to him.
When we find Him, we truly find ourselves.
[[Come back for Part 3: Being Intentional With Ourselves]].
