I once preached a sermon in a series about the various distorted images we have of God. It was intended to recognize the images we have of God that we create out of our experiences, relationships, and circumstances instead of the true images of God we see in Scripture. Once you recognize them, you can replace them with truth.
This particular night I was revealing the distorted image of the ‘disinterested God’. We took a look at those distortions that make us doubt God, in his immense realities, could actually be interested in me personally, intimately, and truthfully.
We looked at the true image of God who knows me far more than I could imagine. This is a God who is Immanuel, God with us. This is the God who knows when I sit and when I rise. The true God is one who knows my deepest thoughts, desires, and imaginations. (Psalm 139)
At this point, a strong quote by Matthew Henry came to the forefront.
“Our thoughts are words to God.”
It was a beautiful answer to those of us who may struggle from time to time with a distorted image in our heart of a God who is aloof or disinterested in my tiny individual life. To someone who struggles to pray to an immense God, this quote soothes the soul a bit and frees the heart a lot more to rest in prayer.
On the way home, Tonya shared with me the shadow of the quote. She was challenged to recognize how scary it can be when we really think about the thoughts we commonly have. There are a lot of thoughts we have in the course of a day we certainly would not want God to hear or know.
If our thoughts are words to God, there is a risk to that, of course, but I would say with risks included, it STILL means our God is close. Even if it must include all our thoughts, it still means God is interested in you personally and intimately.
I cried a little while reading this. Insecurity is a big struggle for me, and lately it seems that every reminder of God’s interest in my thoughts and my heart has touched and amazed me. There is a risk in each thought being words to God, but the more conscious I am of God’s all-knowing presence in my life the more comforted and confident I feel throughout my day.
My eyes were moistened by reading your comment, friend. Because 1) I hear you loud and clear. I’ve been there and I know that tension in my heart and 2) It kills me as a friend, pastor, and human being to know of that struggle inside you, because you are truly a dynamic person with outrageous capacity. I think God has an incredible plan for your passions and life.
Thank you for reading and commenting.
It’s all just motivation to stay close to God. There is a noticeable difference in the nature of my thoughts and my self-esteem on days when I get up early to spend an hour with God before my day begins and days when I don’t. It’s true, my heart hurts, but the feeling of God’s peace when I call out to him…indescribable. The joy of enduring by his strength, knowing he will never let me go, and experience how he blesses me when my heart is placed vulnerably in his hands! I think it’s worth the pain.
You simply have no idea how much everything you said connects to what I’m talking about on Sunday night.