The Most Intimate Relationship

July 22, 2015 by Gail Ballard Leave a comment

(image found on Google images)

When you think of loved ones who have passed, who are you most looking forward to seeing again when it is your time to return to God?  I miss my Grandma Cron; she is my guardian angel.  My father passed in 2008 at 91 and it will be so wonderful to see him.  And my cats – Mozart (2003), Jack and Bella (2009) and Sebastian (2014) – I’ll be overjoyed to be reunited with them.

But wait; I’ve got things mixed up.

Yesterday I read a blog by my niece, Danielle, which is about the most important and intimate relationship that each of us should have. (**See link below)  She wrote of how she had been putting her trust, attention, and love for her husband in God’s place.  Above your spouse, children, parents – and beloved pets – you need to be most excited to see God when it is your time to return to Him.

I have been through quite a few problems in the last few years, and I often wonder why these things keep happening to me.  “God, please stop!  Why do these things keep happening?”  Last year I heard Him loud and clear – Trust Me.  I had heard God speak.

Now, it is happening again.  I have been without employment and income for two months, and even with my depression medication, the anxiety is hard to control at times.  I remember Him speaking to me last year, and it controls that anxiety.  This morning I looked at Danielle’s blog again, and re-read her quote of a passage from “Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” part of the Narnia series by C.S. Lewis.  The following section from her blog tore at my heart:

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C.S. Lewis provides such beautifully rich imagery in his Chronicles of Narnia series. A passage from the “The Voyage of the “Dawn Treader” resonates deeply within me. Eustace, a rotten and annoying boy, finds himself in possession of a huge fortune. Gold and rubies were everywhere and he couldn’t help but imagine a rich life and the new comforts he could enjoy in the midst of this treasure. He lies down in the midst of his vastly great possession, utterly satisfied and falls asleep.

While sleeping on a cache of gold and fortune with “greedy, dragonish thoughts in his heart,” he woke up and to his own terror he had become green personified… a dragon himself. He was transformed into a miserable, lonely beast, cut off from humanity. Over and over, he tried to scrape off the skin, but there was absolutely nothing he could do to shed his rough, scaly dragon skin.

In mercy and grace, Aslan the Lion appeared one night while he was lying helpless and hopeless. Aslan said to him, “You will have to let me undress you.” Eustace was afraid of Aslan’s claws, but he was terribly desperate. In anxiousness and humility Eustace lied down flat on his back for Aslan to undress him.

“The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I’ve ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off.

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Wow – this is one of those lightning bolts from God.  God has trying to peel away the ungodly exterior to my soul.  Yes, I need to trust Him, and yes, I need to build a much more intimate relationship with Him.  But how do you do that?  Read scripture; pray; pray for the Holy Spirit to be with you for guidance; these are just the tip of the iceberg.  I may never know why I keep going through these things, but as I experience ache and pain, I know I am on the path to a more intimate relationship with Him.

A few of the things I’m thankful for this week:

1. God drawing me closer to Him.
2. Heavy rain on Saturday.
3. Heavy rain on Sunday.
4. My container veggie garden
5. Food banks
6. Shadow Mountain Community Church
7. Danielle
8. Desiree
9. Des’ pregnancy with triplets has safely to 30 weeks
10. I was a victim of fraud a couple weeks ago; the bank fraud detection people called me early on a Saturday morning to question some transactions.
11. My checking account was emptied, but I got it all back.
12. I get paid on Sunday for a house-sitting job.
13. My housemate brought me some treats.
14. Got some food at a church food bank last Saturday.
15. I found a recipe for some delicious banana bread; I’m not a fan of that fruit unless it is mixed into something.
16. I made a couple modifications to this recipe and IT WORKED! Delicious!!
17. There is an extra distribution at the food bank this Thursday evening – some produce.
18. My housemate paid me to help her with yard work.

I have a list of 22 things I want to blog about, but #23 will be part two of sharing my journey to a more intimate relationship with God.  Stay tuned!

** https://my10000reasons.wordpress.com/2015/07/21/cheating-on-my-husband-with-my-husband/

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