walking and talking with god

Photo courtesy of Devyn Miller.

Recently, I had the pleasure of leading our College-Age Young Adults (The Summit) on a {dis}connect weekend retreat to Island Lake Camp where the idea was to disconnect from the virtual and physical world in order to reconnect with God and each other. The retreat was a great success!

While on the retreat we each took a prayer walk during which time we just talked with God sharing anything and everything that came to mind. We also listened and asked God to speak to us. I know God heard my prayer because He did. God spoke to me in a powerful way.

As I walked and prayed, I thanked God for the trees, rocks and animals that He created for us even before time began. Then it dawned on me. Before Adam and Eve. Before Original Sin. God created trees that would eventually give us fire for warmth and wood for shelter and tools. He gave us rocks that would be used to create cutting tools, walls for protection and from which we'd eventually learn to extract metals for tools and weapons. We'd use those weapons to hunt the animals He gifted us with. Their hides would be used to make clothing and their meat would sustain us.
 
He knew. God, in His infinite greatness, knew. He knew that after the fall, we'd need all this to survive. We were created to remain in an ever intimate bond with our Creator and all the rest was created for our benefit. But, in our brokenness we rejected His love and in the ultimate act of rebellion we used the very life sustaining gifts of creation that He had given us to take the life of His Son sent to reconcile us to Him for eternity. The cross. The nails. The crown. The spear. How dare we? Shame on us!

That's when I lost it. I began to weep bitterly and asked God for forgiveness of my part in the mutiny. I prayed God, who is faithful to forgive, would find it in His heart to shine His Grace and Mercy upon our undeserving generation.

If you've never taken a prayer walk as a family, I'd strongly recommend you give it a try. Take a quiet walk around your neighborhood or at a local park. Talk with God. Listen. See what He has to say. Then sit down as a family and discuss what God might have said to each of you. Spend some time disconnecting from the world so you can reconnect to God and each other.

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