It’s one thing to know someone, and another thing entirely to have a personal relationship with that person. We all have social lives; some people we just talk to, others we are really close with. We share secrets, we laugh, have fun, play games, cry together, share joy, sorrow, ups and downs. That’s how we should be with God. Unfortunately, most of us don’t have that kind of relationship with Him. He is just some deity that is up there somewhere, to be feared and prayed to, instead of a friend near to us, to love and talk with. You know, this is what Adam and Eve had in the Garden of Eden. “And they heard the voice of the Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day” (Genesis 3:8). God came to take a stroll with them. Now, that is a personal relationship.
Some people are afraid of God so much that, no matter how many times they try, it is just impossible to get close to Him. Having the fear of God is one thing, and fearing God is another thing entirely. When you have the fear of God, it spurs you to do the right thing; it is the beginning of wisdom. But when you fear God, it just keeps you away from Him. One may ask, is it really possible to have a personal relationship with God? Has it ever happened before? Well, the answer is YES! In capital letters and with an exclamation mark.
Take the story of Abraham, for instance. God wanted to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, but before He did, He felt Abraham should know of it: “I will not hide from Abraham what I am going to do” (Genesis 18:17). There were other people in the world at that time, but God felt He had to tell Abraham. Want to know why? It is because Abraham had established a personal relationship with his God. And that is why he had the boldness to bargain with God without arousing His anger (Genesis 18:23-33). To him (Abraham), it was like chatting with a friend on a normal day. That is a personal relationship.
Another person who was really close to God and perhaps had the closest relationship ever with Him is Moses. Moses’ relationship with God is one so special that I cannot yet fully comprehend. Right from the time when God called Moses on Mount Sinai, it was obvious God had special plans for him. First things first, when he was called, Moses rejected the call (Exodus 4:10). God scolded him and told him to obey, but again, Moses said “No Lord, please send someone else” (Exodus 4:13). God got angry, but instead of punishing him as He usually did in those days, He gave him an alternative and said “Then you will be like God…” verse 16. Never again have I come across such sentence said to a mortal by God except in the story of Moses. God even repeated it again in verse 1 of chapter 7. God elevated him beyond human comprehension.
As if this wasn’t enough, God said in the book of Numbers while rebuking Aaron and Miriam “Now hear what I have to say! When there are prophets among you, I reveal myself to them in visions and speak to them in dreams. It is different when I speak with my servant Moses; I have put him in charge of all my people Israel. So I speak to him FACE TO FACE, clearly and not in riddles; HE HAS EVEN SEEN MY FORM!” (Numbers 12:6-8). No one has ever seen God’s form except Moses. We see Jesus, we see different manifestations of the Holy Spirit like a dove or tongue of fire, but the Father remains the most mysterious of them all. In every place he is mentioned in the Bible, He is presented as a voice, or sometimes it is His “glory” that is seen. But Moses saw God the father’s true form. They spoke and dined and solved problems together. The phrase "personal relationship" doesn’t even cover it. The relationship was beyond the ordinary. It was just amazing.
So now you do know that having a deep personal relationship with God is possible. And I pray you will try to strive towards it. And as you do so, may you achieve a relationship with God so intense that stories of it will be used to draw others closer to God. Amen.
