Good morning, my friends 😊
The other morning I went for an extended hike in the mountains near my home. It was a crisp fall morning- the sun just cresting the trees in the east, a foggy mist hovering over the valleys, a slight breeze stirring the leaves on the ground- a perfect morning! Let me just say that I love my time in nature, being enveloped in the beauty of God’s creation, away from the noise and chaos that seems so rampant in the world right now. And I love that large open sky above me….I love looking up and knowing that God is right there, ready and willing and even eager to spend time with me.
So there I was, just hiking and enjoying my morning….and chatting with the Lord. I say chatting because I’m learning to talk to God as a Friend, as my closest Friend. In all honesty, can I just admit that my prayer life for… well, for all of my life, has been abysmal? Always convicted, feeling forever condemned, I have sought formula after formula, routine after routine in order to establish a prayer life that is “fervent and effectual.” And I have always fallen short, at least in my eyes. Until I picked up Paul E. Miller’s book A Praying Life. Let me just say that this book has transformed my prayer life, taking away the condemnation and giving me a new perspective on prayer. Have I arrived? Uh…no. A resounding NO. But I am finding my way. But maybe that is a blog for another day. 😊
So there I was, chatting with God…..When I do that, I like to envision myself pulling up a chair and sitting down at a table to talk to my Heavenly Father….because He is a Father to me, my Abba Father, a title that implies relationship, that implies intimacy. And the whole table part? Well, that’s where I can commune with God, visit with Him, tell Him about my day, spend quality time with Him….that’s where I can seek Him and find Him. So, as I chatted with God on that beautiful morning, I felt the Lord nudging me, urging me to draw nearer to Him….to LEAN into Him. I was immediately reminded of a picture of my grandson Collin leaning on his Poppy’s arm while his Poppy fed him.
To lean means to rely on, to depend upon..to trust. Can you see the reliance and trust in that picture? That little boy is so confident and trusting of his Poppy that he is literally leaning on his arm, resting there, waiting patiently for the next bite, kind of like a baby bird. This is no stiff and formal interaction! This is love and intimacy and relationship! And that’s what God showed me He wants from me too!
Let me show you scripturally what this looks like. In the book of John, the Apostle John, who refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved, literally leans on Jesus at the Last Supper. Picture this scene: Jesus and His disciples have just eaten the Passover meal. Judas is set on his course of betrayal. Jesus washes His disciples’ feet. Even Judas’ feet! Can you imagine that? Knowing who your betrayer is and STILL serving him in such a way?? How amazing….and how God! After this, Jesus sits down among His disciples and describes what He has just done as an example of how they (and us today) are to serve others, just as Jesus did. Then, TWICE, scripture points out that John is literally reclining on Jesus’ breast: “Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23) and “He then lying on Jesus’ breast” (John 13:25). Jesus has just washed their feet, just washed and dried His own hands, just sat back down, just conducted a Bible study, and somewhere in all of that, John, the ultimate space invader, slides up so close to Jesus that he is actually reclining on Him. Can you imagine?? Many of us can probably identify with this scenario with our own small children or grandchildren, crawling all over us during some sort of a meeting…but a grown man??!! And Jesus doesn’t rebuke him…nor does He push him away. What beauty! What intimacy! What relationship!
I don’t know about you, but I am kind of reserved, by nature. To insert myself into someone else’s physical space like John does…well, that’s a little hard for me to imagine. But I want that! I want that intimacy with my Savior! I want that relationship! I want that place beside Him, leaning on Him, reclining on Him! And, here’s the beautiful part….He wants that too! The Bible tells us we are to “Trust in the Lord with all [our] heart, And lean not on [our] own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). This, by deduction, implies that we are to lean on God, on His wisdom, on His plan, on His purpose, on His direction, on His love…..on Him! Completely and wholly. Without reservations. Without fear of rejection. Without anxiety. With trust. With abandon. With dependence. With joy. With hope. With love.
I challenge you today to lean on Jesus. Recline against the lover of your soul. Draw near to Him…because the Bible promises He will draw near to you (James 4:8). Call yourself the disciple whom Jesus loves today…because you are! And He wants to gather you with His arms (Isaiah 40:11), to carry you close to His heart (Isaiah 40:11), to shelter you under His wings (Psalm 91:4). Don’t be afraid….JUST LEAN!