Prepare for Self-disclosure!
My amazing and beautiful wife Val and I have been married for over 38 years. Without a moment’s hesitation, we would both say the last four years have been the best. I’ve shared extensively in the past my journey of overcoming depression, and how one part of that journey involves realizing how some of my own choices either dig the pit deeper or help me see the light. No surprise - reversing decades-long sin patterns leads to greater closeness and intimacy in every direction: God, family, friends, self, and more.
The closer the two of us become to one another… wait for it… the more our moments of separation hurt. Distance that might have felt more normal in the past, perhaps even rationalized as acceptable, now is excruciating. Is that good or bad? Yes! Hurts more, but making peace with sin has never been a great business plan.
Separation Anxiety
More recently, I was prayer journaling as I do most mornings, reflecting on one of those brief but brutal spats, and Holy Spirit asked a most uncomfortable question: “Do you feel separation from Me the same way you do with your bride? And if not, why not?”
The reflection that followed was enlightening and sobering. I feel my connection with my wife far more imminently than I do with my Savior and Friend, Jesus. And if I broaden it out to the other two persons of the Trinity, Father and Holy Spirit, there’s no contest. I’m sorry to say that I can go much longer experiencing distance there than with my bride, often not even noticing the separation.
Which is First?
All of this directly connects to John 17. I wrote a couple years ago in this column how my love for nice, tidy, easy to remember quotes had caused me to gut the power source right out of the heart of Jesus’ John 17 prayer for unity. John 17:23 is the summary verse of the whole prayer, and the beginning of it in most translations isn’t a complete sentence: “I in them and You (Father) in Me (Jesus.)” Then the verse goes on to record Jesus’ prayer that our perfect (complete) unity with one another would lead people to know Jesus and experience the love of God.
The last part is compact and straightforward. But the first part - our connection to the Divine Community - is the power source. Unplugging the prayer isn’t any wiser than making peace with sin!
The more our abiding in Jesus becomes practical and not just theoretical, the more oneness we experience in every direction. Maybe this is just me, but “Father, Son and Holy Spirit” can hit me more like a theological formula than a roll call of my three-in-one closest, most intimate companions. Perhaps if we occasionally used the Hebrew and Greek words, far less familiar, it might catch our attention and wake us up. If you knew nothing at all about the names, you might think that Yahweh, Yeshua, and Paraclete sound like a Mediterranean group of friends.
What do YOU Want?
If that last bit doesn’t work for you, don’t sweat it! The point doesn’t lie there anyway. The invitation is for us to realize and press into the reality that our God wants us to experience His closeness as the highest of all intimacies. And we want that, too, wouldn’t you agree?
Dave Drum, Executive Director
