A Relationship With A Friend You Can't See

 

I recently had a friend ask me how we’re supposed to have a relationship with Jesus when we can’t see him.

 

My friend knew all of the church answers: read the Bible, have a devotion time, pray, go to church.

 

But my friend was still struggling with the concept of a relationship with someone that we cannot directly encounter with our senses. 

 

I had no real answers for my friend. It IS kind of crazy if you think about it—

to say that  we’re in relationship with someone who lived, died, was resurrected, and ascended into heaven almost 2000 years ago. 

 

Relationships are two-sided and take time and personal encounters. 

 

How do we know when our invisible encounters with Jesus are real versus made up experiences of emotion?

 

We talked about Trinity God.

 

We talked about the Holy Spirit moving and working and breathing life in mysterious ways.

 

We talked about following Jesus’s life and example of steady love, hospitality,and grace. 

 

We talked about seeing God’s presence in the diversity of creation.

 

I challenged my friend to take one minute out of their commute and not listen to music or podcasts or ruminate on the days tasks and worries but to focus on exactly what they see: 

 

The trees, the cows, the houses, the mailboxes, the street sign, whatever is in front of them…

 

Because being present in the moment is what Jesus called us to do.

 

Being present in the moment, with feet firmly planted on the ground, is the best way that we can live the lives that God has given us to live.

 

And living our lives to the fullest, I think, is the best way to have relationship with the God who breathed life into us and continues to sustain life around us. 

 

I didn’t have a solid, sure answer for my friend that day. And I don’t have a solid, sure answer right now.

 

But I know that, for me, a relationship with Jesus comes through silence, presence, worshipping within a community of faith and considering the stories of scripture together, and trying to do the next Christ-like thing. 

 

What about you? What would you have said to my friend? I’d love to hear. 

 

And if you have no relationship with Jesus because it makes no sense to you, I’d like to hear that too. 

 

And…go! 

 

Amen.