Connecting with God in Real Time

I recently spent a long weekend in NYC w/ my wife and daughter - our last trip before she headed to college. It was my 3rd trip to NYC this year. The first was with the guys to see the Allman Brothers and catch some good blues and the second was with the Future Traveler group planning future expressions of the church. So this trip was very different. We saw Lion King but I couldn't bring myself to see Mary Poppins (I went to the King Tut exhibit instead). And I don't get the idea of shopping when you're "just looking". Seems if you need something you go get it - if you don't need anything, why go? Anyway, that’s how I ended up on Fifth Avenue and in St. Patrick's Cathedral.

St. Patrick's is one of the most awe-inspiring worship facilities I've ever experienced (I attended a service there last year). What struck me this time, though, was not the magnificence of the structure but rather the image of a lone individual seeking to connect with God. After moving among the masses of humanity over the past couple of days, his intentional, solitary posture gripped me. Even here he was surrounded by site seers and photographers all seemingly unaware of his private supplication.

It reminded me what it’s like to live in Christ in real time.

I think it’s important to start the day in private prayer so that we are prepared to join Him in his journey for our lives. It’s good to remember God’s blessings before a meal (try praying after the meal to keep it from becoming an empty ritual). It’s good to pray before any sizeable endeavor. AND: I think it’s just as important to be in conversation with God in real time throughout the day. That can be difficult to do on some days. Don’t some days seem to rush ahead with hardly a moment to catch your breath? On some days don’t you feel surrounded by people and demands that close in tighter as the day progresses? Too often I run ahead under my own strength trying to conquer the day, usually forgetting God when I feel like I have things under control.

But I’m learning that when I live in my strength I severely limit what God wants to do through me. I am trying to understand what Paul was saying in II Corinthians when he quoted Jesus saying, “…my power is made perfect in weakness.” I want to learn to live out of my weakness and God’s strength. To do that I am learning that it has to be his adventure, not mine. I am learning to invite Him into the chaos and the calm; the trials and triumphs; the rush and renewal – everything that makes up life in real time.

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
II Corinthians 12:9-10