Comment by Pat Pope on 1st mo. 11, 2010 at 8:23pm

Seemingly insurmountable obstacles of the spiritual and emotional kind draw me near to God.

Comment by Rickey D. Whetstone on 1st mo. 11, 2010 at 11:21pm

Thanks for your comment Pat. Spiritual blessings to you and your family.
Rick

Comment by Joanna Hoyt on 1st mo. 12, 2010 at 7:10pm

Sometimes it's my faults and failures, or my obvious inability to help people I care about, that turns me back toward God in desperation--other times I hide in distractions and avoid God vigorously. Sometimes it's gratitude for the beauty of the world. Sometimes it's the taking on of work that matters to me and is plainly beyond my strength. Often I'm not even paying attention when the awareness of God's presence breaks in on me, I don't know why.

What about you, Rickey?

Comment by Rickey D. Whetstone on 1st mo. 12, 2010 at 7:52pm

Hi Joanna:
thanks for your comment. And I'll try to answer your question about me.
Between the age of four and eleven I was a happy child. Our new pastor introduced me to an angry God when I was twelve . . . I then was driven to God by deep depression until I was 20. At 21 . . . I was so overtaken by depression . . . I spent hours a day seeking God, after eight months of seeking God . . . I had an encounter with Jesus . . . the depression was gone. At the age of 39 . . . a genetic birth defect with my heart surfaced . . . the illness was the second best thing that happened to me . . . It stopped my focus on work and I then focused on God . . . during my illness . . . God began to deprogram me step by step . . . of my incorrect ideas of God . . . at the age of 49 a person that had never meet me was speaking at a state church convention and called out my medical condition using medical terms known only to me and a trained MD. He touched my head with his index finger and I was made whole . . . My heart doctor told me . . . If you stop taking your medication you will die . . . I have not taken the medicine now for eight years. Now I'm driven to God by sheer worship . . . Just like the videos you see of the teenage girls screaming at the Beetles when they show up. I act just like them . . . when God speaks to me . . . I swoon over every words he speaks.

I hope I have not taken up too much of your time.
Love and blessings to you.
Rick

Comment by Jan Lyn Lewis on 1st mo. 18, 2010 at 10:30am

I try to carve out time to be closer to God as I think it is part of what he wants-our hearts, to know him through devotion and intimacy. My attempts involve times of silence daily, bible reading, prayer and meditation though I view these as avenues that just may open up my awareness more to God. In reality, I think he initiates closeness with me. Rick: Thank you for sharing your experience transparently. I too, am sick. I have come after long emotional journeys on the idea that God never intends to make us ill to get our attention, but he certainly can teach us much through it, when we are open to it. I'm grateful for your healing, but most of all the joy you express about God in worship. I am in need of examples of Friends that experience "joy" as I often, though am not healed by any means, feel great joy in relationship to God and in my worship. At times, sharing my experience of that falls flat. Most of all, I think God initiates to me when I am most alone in life and often in the context of nature I feel a easier connection. Depression...yes, I think God is a God that meets us where we are, as we are and in our time of need. Good question. I need to think on it further.
In Friendship,
Jan Lyn

Comment by Rickey D. Whetstone on 1st mo. 18, 2010 at 5:31pm

Jan
I hope . . . my writings have been a blessing to you . . . May your relationship with God surpass all your hopes and dreams.
Rick

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