Living In Agreement with Father

When we truly know we are loved by a gracious Father, then we are freed to live in agreement with him, instead of using him to fulfill our own desires. During Wayne's recent trip to Ireland, he got into a conversation with a close friend, David Rice, as they talked about the process by which God invites us inside of his love and teaches us to be at rest in his provision and desires for us. This is where we discover the joy of abandoning our own agendas and dreams and learn how to walk in agreement with him. This is how Jesus lived, not by following a set of principles, but learning to recognize and cooperate with what his Father was already doing. And this is the essence of real community--where brothers and sisters come into deep agreement with God and with each other in seeing his kingdom unfold in the world.

Podcast Links:
Previous Podcasts with David Rice: Living as a Family (8/21/10) and Laying it All Down in Dublin (4/26/06)
Contact David Rice
Great Joy in Kenya

12 Comments

  1. There are so many things in this that I flat do NOT get and wish I did. In particular, the idea of enjoying being God’s child. I have been a Christ follower since 1988 and, if I ever knew it at all, I do not now know what that’s like. I also don’t really know what it’s like to enjoy being daughter to my parents, so perhaps that’s where the disconnect takes place – I have no real way to connect the dots. I do know that I have had cause to regret saying “yes” to God. I do know that I don’t know what it’s like to have confidence that love is that kind of real, that God will do good because He wants to and not because there are ulterior motives. That forgiveness is real, not just lip service to manipulate. Or a lot of different things that are tied into “living loved.”

    To enjoy being God’s child. That would be a wonderful thing. I cannot even imagine it.

  2. Michelle,

    I’m so sorry you feel disconnected from this reality, but please realize that this is FOR you. You may have some bits to overcome here, but he is big enough for the challenge. God wants nothing more than for you to enjoy being his daughter, even if it’s the first time you’ve ever known that reality. Let him show you. Don’t let the things you’ve been taught detract you. Ask him to show you, to teach you how to know his love, not by the principles of Scripture, but by the revelation in your heart. This is a process. Learning to engage the God of the universe can seem difficult, because we have a hard time believing how simple it truly can be. I’ll be praying for you and we may discuss your posting here on a future podcast to help people who feel similarly….

  3. Wow. This is just so wonderful. I am going to listen again to allow it to soak in.

  4. Michelle, just to let you know that there are others that are experiencing what you are going through. Not that this helps, but you are not alone in feeling disconnected. Re connection – I feel as if I’ve been traveling down the road with wax in my ears and my head up my posterior (dark night much?) for a few years now. Maybe I will bump into a tree soon. Anyway, prayer mode is “on” for your situation and hope that you experience a break through.

  5. Appreciated the conversation Wayne and Dave. What stood out for me was the “laying down” of our own efforts…even in having a relationship with Him. Michelle..your post also touched my heart. In the end only Father can bring about this revelation and more programs, more reading, more praying, more…more…more…is simply not going to help. On the one hand for those like me who work very hard…that’s bad news…to think that my work accomplishes nothing. The other side to this is the very good news that since my energy cannot accomplish this relationship, I can at long last rest. Right now Father has me in a very “quiet/restful” period and when I feel impatient, I bring that to Him. When others look at me and think I’ve “gone off the rails” I can bring that to Him also. The way that He will use my life and my gifts…how that work fits in with His rest…I cannot see right now. His timing is very patient rather than hurried and rushed. He also knows and understands our pain through these periods of walking with Him.

  6. I think it’s really hard when you’re in that “detox” period, yet there are still so many needs that you need God to meet in your life. It’s hard to sense His presence and see His helping hand especially when you’re struggling to understand His character and are unsure of whether or not you’re even doing the right thing. It’s these moments that the thought of giving up or going back becomes so tempting even though you know you don’t really want to. You’re still struggling with all of the trials of life, possibly even more, yet the one you’re depending on for help is also the very one that is in question. It’s even harder when the Christians that you do know all firmly believe you’re wrong.

    I’ve tasted a “reality” that makes me never want to go back. But I really hope that one day this moves beyond an occasional taste into an experience that lasts a lifetime. As quick and spaced out as they are, those “tastes” make me want to keep enduring regardless of how painful it can be. But I’d be a liar if I said that this wasn’t one of the most difficult things that I’ve ever gone through.

  7. I too well understand the difficulty in trying to sort out a loving father as my own father was very abusive. I always tried to stay “under the radar” as I did not want to draw attention to myself especially from my father. So ths has been an adventure to say the least, but after reading “He loves me” and reading about the cross which made me sit bolt upright in bed In amazement and ever sinceI have been on “the journey”. So. Michelle keep at it, I will too.

  8. Thanks Debbie, Jim, Jake and Judy. Even though we’re not physically meeting and talking…it seems through your writing that there are so many echoes in my own heart. It does help to know that we’re not alone…this process of sorting out what it means to have Him with us (when we’re misunderstood by other people still in the institution or our own families) is a process that unfolds in a very different time frame then I had expected. I’m struck by how far He’s brought me when I look back to where I was even a year ago. At the same time I’m amazed by how patient He is and not rushed (I thought I’d be further along) whereas He is not phased in the least. I’m still learning to listen to His voice when there are so many other voices that would bring distractions.

  9. Thanks, everyone, for the prayers and encouragement.

    I listened to today’s podcast (6/22/2012) and it was really weird to get talked about like that, especially given the nature of my struggle. 🙂

  10. Michelle, I hope the smiley face means this is tongue-in-cheek. I loved your earlier post because I meet many people who say the same thing in the initial stages of all of this. But I hoped we made clear on the podcast that we were not talking to YOU, since we don’t have a clue what the details are of your struggle, but to people who have similar questions. Without talking to you directly, we only talk in generalities that your email prompts in us. I sincerely hope it helps, but it may be far off the mark from what you personal are dealing with. But my prayers are still with you…

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