When You Can't Make Eye Contact With God

One of my Spiritual Goals for March was, “Engage with Him throughout the day.” 

Why is this one of my focus areas? What does it mean?

A couple of years ago, I read the book Every Bitter Thing is Sweet by Sara Hagerty, and besides being perfect for the season of loss I was in at that time, it also really impacted how I look at my relationship with God. The way Sara writes about her time in the Word, prayer, and just daily interactions with the Lord is so sweet, simple, and sincere – it made me long to be nearer to Him myself.

On page 94 in the book, Sara writes,

“Adoration is exploration. The Father loves to be explored.” 

Doesn’t that ring true? Don’t even we, as women, feel extra-loved when someone we love and trust explores the depths of us, seeking to really know our story and our heart?

Allow yourself to even think physically for a moment…. Don’t we, as wives, love to be physically explored by our adoring husband?

Adoration is exploration. And even God Himself loves when we explore Him, seeking to know Him more deeply.

More recently – just a few months ago – I recognized a tendency in myself to ignore God during my everyday life. And not just neglecting to seek and explore Him, but actually almost avoiding Him.

I read something in a book or blog (I can’t remember where) that talked about the Father being here with me in my everyday life… seeing me, looking at me, loving me. And it struck me – I’d been refusing to look back at Him. Averting my eyes. Subconsciously thinking that, if I don’t meet His gaze, I can avoid hard conversations and painful realities.

At that moment, He whispered that He just wants me to look back at Him. He’s here, in my everyday, getting on my level, wanting to gaze into my eyes and tell me what’s on His heart. And I was going about my busyness and distraction, avoiding eye contact. 

It’s like seeing someone you know at the grocery store but ducking into the next aisle, not acknowledging them because you really don’t want to get into a conversation. (tell me I’m not the only one who does that?!) 

Except it’s not just an acquaintance at the store. It’s the Lord of my heart, the One who died for me, the One who loves me more than anyone else. So why do I ignore Him, walk on as if He’s not even there?

Maybe because I know He’ll go straight for the heart, not leaving the hurts untouched. Maybe because it’s less scary to hold Him at arms’ length, than to let Him in and let Him explore my depths. 

At the beginning of this year, I committed to not be satisfied with just a daily quiet time to check off a box, but to make the effort to explore a new season of my relationship with the Lord… finding Him in new ways and new places, exploring Him, learning His depths and letting Him into mine.

And part of that is to simply acknowledge Him in my everyday. To feel when He’s looking at me, when He’s near, and to take a deep breath and gaze back at Him. To acknowledge that He’s there. To say hello. To worship. To let Him look into my heart, and to talk to Him about what’s there. 

I know He’ll be kind and gentle. He’s not rough with our hearts. He adores us. He’s not looking to punch the buttons that cause us pain. Where there is pain, He wants to bring comfort, understanding, peace, and healing.

But we have to be brave enough to let Him in. Because our Father loves to be explored by His adoring children…. and He also, who adores us, longs to explore our hearts.

The Shack: My Honest Thoughts

 

On Saturday – despite the controversy, mixed reviews, and even outright boycotts – my husband and I went to see The Shack. When I stated on Facebook later that night that we had watched it and I was processing “all the feelings,” I immediately started getting questions from people about what I thought about the movie and whether I would recommend it. With all the experts and columnists spouting all their controversial opinions, it seems like real people who genuinely love Jesus are looking for realistic answers about whether they should see the movie or not.

So with that in mind, I simply want to share my viewpoint.

 

I read the book The Shack by William Young several years ago, soon after it came out in 2007. I’ll admit, it’s been a while since I read it, so I don’t recall all the doctrinal details… but I do remember this: This book helped me grasp the personal and beautiful love of God, something I struggled for years to truly understand. I have always appreciated it for that reason.

Which brings us to the movie. Simply put, my views are both positive and negative, and I just want to share them honestly with you. So here are eight thoughts I have about the movie.

1. God’s love and mercy are shown well. The love of God is definitely the overarching theme of the story. We see how He reaches out to us, in the midst of our own suffering and confusion, to show us Himself and bring us back into fellowship with Him. We see His friendship in the character of Jesus, His tender comfort in the character of Sarayu, His constant steadfastness and love in the character of Papa. These show us glimpses of who our Lord is.

2. The Invisible God, the Trinity, is represented in human flesh. Some critics of the movie have shouted out against this, saying it violates the second commandment {no graven images} and sets these humans up as God in our minds. I personally don’t agree… but I do think discernment is required as we watch this. We all know that these people are not God, nor are they attempting to be. They are simply serving as representations, illustrations, of His character. It’s a tricky job, but they do it well.
I will say that I did have a problem with the actress Octavia Spencer stating the line, “I am that I am.” That’s a statement reserved for God and God alone, and it should have been excluded from the movie.
Aside from that line, I appreciated each actor’s individual representation of a small taste of who our Savior is.

3. Love and justice seem to be mutually exclusive. There is a point in the movie when “Papa” denies that the wrath of God is a real thing. When Mack asks, “What about your wrath?” she responds with, “Wrath? I don’t need to punish people. Sin is enough punishment on its own.” I think this is a flaw in the movie’s theology. It seems to be saying that because God is love, He doesn’t condemn sin… which just isn’t true. This is part of the wonderful mystery that is our God – His love and justice go hand in hand! He has to punish sin because He is holy, yet His love moved Him to make a way for us to be redeemed from that punishment. I think The Shack glosses over this point by minimizing the judgement of God on sin.

4. God the Father is portrayed as a woman. I have mixed feelings about this aspect of the movie. The reason is clearly stated: “Papa” appears as a woman because of Mack’s history, because he would be unable to handle a father-figure.
On the one hand, I think it’s brilliant to portray God this way. It meets people like Mack, who have been hurt by their fathers or by other men, who struggle to relate to a “male” God. It also helps break the mold in our religious minds that God is an old, bearded, white man. How small we think of Him! There is so much more to our God’s character that we comprehend. He absolutely has feminine, motherly qualities – beauty, gentleness, nurturing.
But on the other hand, I think there’s an element missing by only seeing “Papa” as a mother, and not as a father. {Even though a father-figure appears in the movie, he’s not a well-developed character and we only see him for a few short scenes.} By only seeing God portrayed in the feminine, we miss so much of His character as a father, a strong leader, a warrior, a protector. I wish more of that had been explored.

5. Suffering is explained. I appreciate that Mack’s suffering in the story is of the very worst kind we can imagine, because it excludes no one. No one can say, “Well, my sorrow is worse than his, so this doesn’t apply to me.” By giving Mack a Great Sadness that’s only a worst nightmare to most of us, the author includes all of us. No hurt is too big for God.
And Mack asks the question you and I ask – “Why?”  Why do awful things happen to good, innocent people? Why didn’t God stop the tragedy from happening? Why does it have to be this way? The Shack tells us the truth: that God does not cause evil, painful things to happen… but sometimes He allows them, because He sees the big picture, the ripple effect, the good that will come out of the pain.

6. But at the same time, the explanation is lacking. Although the answer to the “why do we suffer” question gradually comes out, it takes them the whole movie to explain it, and the question gets glossed over several times in the meantime. At one point, it even seems like we’re told there is evil in the world and God can’t do anything about it. The movie definitely could have handled this deeply important question with more care.

7. The theme of forgiveness is well-done. Besides God’s love and the different aspects of His character, I thought forgiveness was one of the themes the movie best portrayed. Mack is asked to forgive people who have caused him horrible and irreversible pain…. and even to forgive God and himself, as well. I appreciated how “Papa” tells Mack that the anger will not instantly go away, nor will he necessarily feel like forgiving, but it is a choice, and a choice that might have to be made daily.

8. There is hope for healing. After terrible tragedy, Great Sadness, and wrestling with God, Mack finally finds healing. He begins to see the good and the purpose of God rippling from his pain. I loved the scene near the end when the beautiful tree grew up out of the grave, because it represents so much – our greatest sorrows, when we surrender them to the Lord and allow Him to bring healing, can grow into something beautiful and fruitful.

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The Shack definitely gave me a lot to process and think about, just as the book did several years ago. Someone asked me if I would recommend it, and my answer is yes. Yes, I recommend seeing it, but watch it with discernment, with your spiritual eyes open. It’s Hollywood, so we can’t expect it to be 100% Biblical or Christlike. So watch with wise discernment, and see how God might speak to you through it.