Have A Talk With God

But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God.
    I will always trust in God’s unfailing love.
I will praise you forever, O God,
    for what you have done.
I will trust in your good name

    in the presence of your faithful people.  Psalm 52:8-9

Trusting in God is not an easy thing.  One of the things I enjoy is listening to others and their life stories.  I laugh at their follies, and cry with them in their pain.  Everyone should be heard in my world.  We all want someone to hear us, don’t we?  I think of what God must hear when we talk with Him.  My conversations range between the very same things I hear people speak to me of.  Sometime, God is trying to teach me in a humorous way, and I look up to the heavens with a grin on my face saying, “God, you’re funny.”  Other times, I am tired and weary, and look to God to just help me get through the day.  Then I think of my wife, and am often overcome with emotion in how He blessed me with her.  I say, “God, I do not deserve this wonderful woman.  Thank you for putting her here and loving me so much.”  These are the things I talk about with God, and in hindsight, those are the reasons I trust Him.

However when I lose focus on these things, I am not so trusting.  I rely maybe too much on my wants and not what God wants.  These are dangerous times where doubt creeps in and sinfulness may be at hand.  It is then that I need to realize that doubt is the work of the Satan.  I must trust God and sometimes, that means I must pause.  This is where I stop, and God starts.

It is vital to have open communication with God.  A simple truth in any relationship is that the better the communication, the better the relationship.  I read this 52^nd Psalm of David, and initially thought this was about trusting God against your enemies.  But as I got to the end, David spoke about thriving in the house of God.  It was more about His relationship with God than all that was going on around him.  He spoke glowingly not only in front of others but also and more importantly to God Himself.  It gave me comfort realizing that we too have that same access to God.  Reading, going to church, and prayers all constitute as ways to communicate with Him, and as we talk more with Him, we gain confidence that builds the trust David speaks of.  Paul wrote in the opening of 2 Corinthians, “We have placed our confidence in Him, and He will continue to rescue us.” (2 Corinthians 1:10b)  This is what a growing relationship in Christ sounds like.

Our relationship with God is real.  It is not one where we either go through the motions or read just to check off a box of a ‘To Do’ list.  It is motivating and often convicting.  It’s hard.  But if we are willing to search deep in our hearts and soul and share with God all that is our life, He will listen.  He will hear.  And most important, He will answer.  A song by Stevie Wonder speaks to this saying:

Many of us feel we walk alone without a friend
Never communicating with the One who lives within
Forgetting all about the One who never ever lets you down
And you can talk to Him anytime, He's always around

Let us continue to speak freely to our Heavenly Father with consistency and without fear or hesitation.  What will you talk with Him about today?  What joy, fear, or pain can you share with Him?  My prayer is that we break free of our stagnation, and simply as the title of Stevie Wonder’s song says, “Have a Talk with God.”  Amen.