Surrender to Love

I want to share with you some thoughts from a book I am reading, called Surrender to Love, by David Benner

Listen to this quote:"The deepest ache of the soul is the spiritual longing for connection and belonging. No one was created for isolation. 'Nothing in creation is ever totally at home in itself' says John O' Donohue. 'No thing is ultimately at one with itself.' We seek bridges from our isolation through people, possessions and accomplishment. But none of these are ever quite capable of satisfying the restlessness of the human heart. to be human is to have been designed for intimate relationship with Divine. This is why the yearning for connection is spiritual. Our needs for love, connection and surrender form the spiritual core of our personhood."

We can beat the drum all day and night at Big Creek and challenge people to Get Connected! Get Connected! But fundamentally connectedness is a spiritual issue. And as men and women get more connected to their sweet Savior, the more satisfied they will be in their relationships with others. Too often we suggest that if people just get into a small group, for example, that will be the answer. Well, it is "a" answer, it isn't "the" answer. Small Groups are a good step. It can and should be an environment that cultivates intimacy with God. But as Benner says, "intimate relationship with Divine" is what fundamentally we all are longing for, need and will satisfy.

I am seeing, and the leadership at Big Creek would agree, God moving in a special way in people hearts and lives. People are doing business with God. People are on the cusp of becoming followers of Christ, followers of Christ are deepening in a commitment to prayer, worship seems sweeter and more alive, people are experiencing the work of conviction and people are stepping up and serving in new ways. And as God does His work in our lives, and as we allow Him to do so, not only are we growing in our intimacy with our Abba, Daddy, but also with each other.I believe Benner is correct, when he says our connectedness, first starts with God. People at Big Creek will "feel" connected, when they are truly and fundamentally connected with Savior.