Connecting with God means having a relationship with Him, to love Him, just as you connect with your family.
What is love?
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8)
What has love do with God?
God is love. He fits every single description as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8. Even though Adam and Eve failed God, God was kind. He did not condemn them, neither did He destroy them. Instead, right after they sinned against God, the LORD God made garments of skin for Adamand his wife and clothed them (Genesis 3:21). Similarly, in the time of Noah, even though He was so angry that He wanted to wipe out the whole human race, He did not. He has all the reasons but He did not. God being forgiving, He gave us chance after chance, waiting for us patiently to turn back to Him.
And because God is love, every love that you are experience is through Him. "We love each other because He loved us first." (1 John 4:12-19)
You said that God love us. How has He? As humans, when you love a particular someone, what are some things that you will do for him/her?
(1) Whatever he/she wants to do, you will support him/her.
(2) Whatever disappointing things that he/she does, you will forgive him/her.
(3) Even if it means your life, you willingly give him/her.
Similarly, God did what you would do and not only that, He does even more. If you have a partner before, to love one is tough enough, how much more is the world! God did not just love you only. He loves your parents, family, friends, people whom you do not know and even his enemies! If one is difficult, how much more is His?
Imagine yourself creating something and you expect it to be good but it turned out otherwise, how do you feel? This is how God feels! At times, when created items turn out to be faulty, the creator disposes them off and never let it be around but definitely not God. Since the beginning, Man has disappointed God time after time, from providing Moses to King David to John the Baptist, but none of these efforts seem to work against the stone heart of Man. A handful got saved but Many still ignore His love.
God could have given up but that is not His character. Love always perseveres. Instead, He decided that He had to use His last resort, His trump card but meanwhile, the greatest sacrifice for Him. He sent His one and only beloved Son, Jesus Christ, so that whoever believe in Him (Jesus Christ), shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) If you are a parent, ask yourself this question: "Would you sacrifice your son for people whom go against your will and never loved you?" You must be thinking, "How dumb it is!" But not God.
God did everything. Through His precious Son, you are not only saved from sin, most importantly, you are able to enjoy the relationship with the Father directly!
What are some of the ways you can adapt to maintain and strengthen this Connection/Relationship with God? How do couples maintain and strengthen their relationship? Through communication? Through the things that they do together? Similarly, that is how you should do in your relationship with God.
God left the most wonderful communicating tool on Earth and that is His Word - The Bible. By reading His Word daily, you will know Him better and therefore love Him even more. You may ask this, "How about God?" God already knows you even before you were born. And I dare proclaim that He is the one and only person in this entire universe that knows you best, even more than what you know about yourself. "And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." (Matthew 10:30)
Before a couple gets married to one another, will not they rather hug someone to sleep every night? Obviously they do not but they will have a replacement, for example a hugging bear. But God left you something more powerful than a hugging bear. He left His spirit in you, so that in every single second of your life, He is always there for you, in the things you do, in the emotions that you are facing. So, to improve this relationship, allow Him to do things with you.
Next, call God frequently! It is not as if every boyfriend provides their girlfriend with a phone and a number but God provides! He gave you a weightless plus wireless "hand phone" which does not require any recharging. And that is prayer. Just as you will do to your love ones on Earth, do the same to the Father. Call Him anytime, anywhere, He is always ready 24/7 to pick up your phone, to hear what you have to say, your questions, your decisions, your cry-outs, everything.
What hinders you from maintaining and strengthening this Connection? And How can you solve these hindrances?
I know. You are going to find some excuses right now. Stop!
Some of the common reasons which Man is hindered are:
(1) Insufficient time
(2) Laziness
(3) Do not feel like it
(4) I do not know how to
Basically, these excuses are understandable but not valid. As much as God wants 100% of your time, He knows that that is impossible for you. Similarly, as much as a husband wants 100% of his wife's time, he knows that is impossible. However, be it husbands or God, He just wants you to spend time with Him, even if it is only 5 minutes of your day.
Start small in everything. The time which your church pastor spends with God now, I dare say it is not as much as compared to ten years ago. As you spend time with your friends or love ones, do you think that the moment you know that, you gave them your priority and most of your time? Probably, you started spending 1 minute saying Hi's and Bye's with one another. Then slowly, from chit chatting to outings, to phone calls, to ...
God is not demanding you to spend all your time with him the moment you know Him. He is not a control freak. He is patient with you, always waiting for your replies. Just start interacting with him bit by bit daily. Start small and soon it will end up BIG!
