Right now, I am intoxicated with the author of a particular book. This book describes the ideal of intimacy so well. It is a book of discovery where the author consistently explains who he is, and he reminds the reader who she is letting her know how precious she is to him.
Some excerpts from the book:
But now, this is what the Lord says–
he who created you, Jacob,
he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine. Isaiah 43:1
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
Cush[a] and Seba in your stead.
Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
nations in exchange for your life. Isaiah 43:3-4
The above scriptures remind me of when I was first getting to know the Lord as a teenager. When people would come up to me and pray for me in church they would always say, “God is saying that you are mine.” “I got you.” It was during this season, that I was beginning to learn who God was and what I meant to him.
As a young person and still today, I have had to go through many trials and tribulations that has caused me to learn God in a greater way. It is through the storms and trials of life that we see who God is. That is when God reveals his strength to us and often his will for us. If we read Isaiah over and over again, God is telling his people “I am God and there is no other.” “I am God and without me you can do nothing.” “I am God and there is none besides me.” In other words, God was making it very clear to his people that if they look to idols or anything else they could find no one as good as him. God is it! God is the top notch! It doesn’t get any better than him!
It is interesting though that despite God revealing these things to us, our human nature leans to idols, sin, and things that appeal to our senses. We want something to touch, to make us feel the security that only the Lord can give, yet God is patient and reveals himself to us again and again.
It is through this type of intimacy with God that he reveals who he is, and who we are, and finally how much we mean to him.
Many people don’t realize that God is more than commandments and rules. They limit their view of God to popular opinion. God is more than do this and don’t do that. He is actually the God who created romance.
One definition of romance is a feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love. Why not have a life-long relationship with the Lord that is full of the excitement of God revealing himself to us? We don’t have to wait until we are in love with a person to experience intimacy or closeness to someone, to experience the unraveling of getting to know someone special in a class of his own. We can experience that in our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He provides everything that we could ever want in a relationship:
- Security – The idea that we are completely covered and taken care of.
- Trust – Trustworthiness, no worries with God.
- Knowledge of ourselves – In Christ we learn who we are. God confirms to us who we are.
- Commitment/Covenant – We are in covenant with Christ
- Intimacy – A closeness unique to those involved.
The idea is not to discredit relationships, but to encourage intimacy with God over a desire for a relationship. It is this basis that will ground us as single believers for the appropriate relationship because Christ will have shown us through our relationship with him how we are to be treated.
We are the bride of Christ collectively as a whole. That includes both men and women. We have been pursued, sought after, and thoughtfully made to feel secure in Christ. In this God boasts and has the right to do so because the idols that we chase are not enough. Only Christ is.
The world requires a man to woo a woman with flowers and candy, but Christ requires a man to woo his wife with such love that he is willing to give his life for her as Christ, our example gave his life for us.
Let’s not get caught up in romanticizing about romance that doesn’t even meet God’s standard and get caught up in God himself the creator of true romance. Let’s allow God to address all of our insecurities as singles with his great love for us as he reminds us that we have been chosen by him specifically by name and we are loved.
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