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What relationship do you consider to be the most important one in your life? Relationships are an important and essential part of life that we can’t do without. It’s been said, and rightly so, that no person is an island. Those who are closest to us, not what is in our bank accounts, are what makes us rich. Money can blow away at a moment’s notice. The world economy may crash and all of our savings may be depleted, leaving us penniless. But, the real riches of life are found in relationships, not material wealth.

Pulling you up or down

The wealth we find in our relationships is reflected in the give-and-take between those we relate to and ourselves. Some people pull you down and others lift you up. Who have you decided to keep company with? The ones we find ourselves relating to deeply are the ones who will have greater influence on us.

Who do we get our advice from?

Who do we confide in?

And whose advice do we follow?

Keep your cards close

There’s a saying that I find myself using from time to time, “Keep your cards close.” What I mean in saying this is to guard yourself. Don’t be quick to divulge everything that is going on inside of you to just anyone. People are unreliable. They will fail us.

Trust among our human friends is earned. This is wisdom but shouldn’t be what we live by when we relate to God. Why? Because God’s character is the polar opposite of the character of mankind. He has our best interests at heart. He isn’t looking to step on us so He can move up in society. Consider this, He is already at the top, what benefit would He gain from stepping on us? How much higher can God go?

He is already at the top.

The determining factor

If you have spent any time reading anything on A Cultural Shift, you knew I was going to go in this direction. Our relationship with God is an important and, dare I say, essential part of our lives. In fact, our relationship with God is the determining factor of the direction our lives will or will not take.

God is on our side, do we trust Him enough to follow where He leads?

There are some people in the Bible who dared to get close to God. What I find amazing about these people is that God never chased any of them away. Anyone who dared to come close was accepted. There’s one person in particular in the Old Testament that my attention was drawn to recently, his name is Abraham. You might have read about him already. Abraham was called God’s friend.

Imagine being God’s friend. Wouldn’t that be amazing?

A Father first

Yes, God is the Creator, Judge, and Almighty One. He is all that and more. But have you ever considered that everything that God does, He does from the vantage point of getting closer to those He loves? He not only longs to be our Friend, He longs to be our Father.

Unfortunately, most of us have grown up believing God is a far-away Judge looking to bash us over the heads when we go sideways. And if you are a human being, you will go sideways in life. More than once. And because we approach God as Someone Who is untouchable, we feel ashamed in our imperfection. Then we begin to strive for His acceptance. This approach is flawed because God has already done everything for us to be accepted by Him. He sent Jesus. He has paid the price for all of our sins and sideways moments. What remains is for us to receive that forgiveness.

Recently, I heard someone say that God would rather have us and all of our sin than not have us at all.

Part of life as a parent

As a Father, God will do things for us that He wouldn’t do apart from loving us. I’m a parent and as a parent, I’ve done things for my kids just because I love them. I’ve rocked them, watched endless cartoons, held “barf buckets,” and rushed to and from after-school activities. There have been nights I’ve done science projects until midnight and other nights that I have prayed until I had no strength left.

I did all of those things because I love my children. And, there was no question whether or not I would do them. Of course I would do them because I’m their mom and I love them, it’s a part of life as a parent.

Let me explain

Now, back to the relationship that Abraham had with God. I find it amazing that Abraham was so comfortable when he spoke with God that he was able to challenge God. Not once does God reprimand Abraham. In fact, like a Father, He was tender. He listened to Abraham’s request and answered it Himself. Let me explain.

The story in particular that I’m referring to comes from Genesis 18 and 19 where Abraham is pleading for God not to destroy Sodom, the city where his nephew Lot had gone to live with his family. Sodom had fallen into deep depravity. God told Abraham (see Genesis 18:16-33) that He was going to judge the city for its wickedness.

Why did he stop?

It’s at this point that Abraham gathered himself and pushed back. He asked God if He would bring judgment if there were 50 righteous, then 45, 40, and all the way down to ten. But Abraham knew that there weren’t ten righteous to be found. Why Abraham stopped at ten is a mystery to me. Maybe he felt he was pushing God too far? I don’t know. I’ll leave that to the Bible scholars to argue.

In the opening verses of chapter 19, it’s written that the same two angels that had visited Abraham the day before went to Sodom. They went to rescue Lot and his family. God, being the Father that He is, turned His heart toward Abraham. After all, He is a parent and understood then (and even understands now) that it’s part of life as a parent to bear with the requests of His children. He knew that Abraham was concerned for his nephew. And being the Father that God is, He Himself took care of rescuing Lot even though Lot wasn’t faithful to Him.

Lot was no prize

Lot was no prize. He was a character. But his uncle loved him. I think we all have family members like Lot who we love even though they are, let’s say, characters. Lot looked out for Lot, not for anyone else. When he and Abraham had to part ways because their flocks of animals grew too large to share pasture (see Genesis 13:1-13), Abraham was generous. He gave Lot the first choice of which way to go and of course Lot chose what appeared to be the best area. The better area also was where Sodom was found.

Isn’t it that way? Sin appears to be better. There seems to be more available to us, the pastures are greener. But in the end, like it was with Sodom, sin brings ruin.

God remembered

Many of us like to think it was Abraham’s prayers that moved God to save Lot. Of course that is part of it. However, I’d like for us to consider that in addition to this, God’s love for His son Abraham was another one of the factors that moved God to almost have to force Lot and his family to leave the city.

We’re part of the family

As God moved for Abraham out of love, He wants to move on our behalf. I wonder if you’ve ever considered that God never held anything back from making Himself available to you? He sent His Son, our Elder Brother (see Hebrews 2:11), to take our place. Now, we can stand with Him before the Father. We’re part of the family and having a relationship with our Father is a part of life that we mustn’t do without.

You might be wondering where to start. It’s really not that complicated. Approach getting to know God as you would get to know a friend. Begin spending time with Him. He’s always with you anyway, so you don’t have to worry about time constraints. You can talk to Him at any given moment. He’s there, ready to listen.

You will wonder

Also, when you wonder if you heard from God or not, it’s important to remember that He speaks in many ways. You may hear His audible voice, it’s pretty cool when it happens. But most of the time, God speaks to us through His Word when we read it. He may also speak to us through a billboard on the side of the road, its message may say something completely different to you than what it was intending to say. A friend may bring encouragement or a podcast may speak to your heart. He can and does use anything to speak to us – He can even use our pets (think about Balaam and his donkey see Numbers 22:21-40). God has no limitation on how He can speak to us.

God is always speaking. And as we make the effort, like Abraham did when interceding for Lot, God comes close to us. He is a parent, and having a relationship with His children is a natural part of life for Him. It’s now up to us for it to be part of our lives, too.