Of Cargo Ships and Prayer
Many years ago I had a friend whose husband was captain of a huge container ship that would sail all over the world. He would be away for 6 – 12 months at a time and then stay at home for 2 days or 3 months. My friend and I had many conversations about what it was like being married and having a husband away so often.
She would say that every time her husband came home she had to get “to know” him again. It was difficult for her to right away include her husband in decision making, or asking for his opinion. After being alone for so many months it was hard sharing her thoughts and even harder when he criticized her decision. By the time they would be more comfortable together again – he would leave for another journey.
I often think about my friend and the situation with her husband and wonder … is this not how we feel sometimes in our relationship with God? There are times when we may be too busy with work, kids, sports or other things and don’t have time for scripture reading or prayer, and slowly but surely a “distance” occurs. Then when illness or struggle arises we want to look for that relationship with God again and we pray but… it feels a little uncomfortable as we have to get into that mindset and routine again of including God in our thoughts, plans, questions, and struggles.
In the Bible we see the example of Jesus as He goes to His Father in prayer for strength, comfort, and wisdom regularly and in 1 Thessalonians 5 we read: Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances: for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
It is my prayer that we may be a people who walk closely with the Lord daily, letting Him in on all our daily activities, our hopes and plans, our struggles and pain. It is in our daily conversations with Him that we build a relationship that will never feel “uncomfortable” but instead will help us know our Heavenly Father more deeply.
