The Luke 10:27 Challenge: With ALL Your Soul, Day 2

God Wired Us to Connect with Him in Unique Ways

Yesterday, we talked about how loving God with ALL your soul meant that you had to get away ALONE and spend time connecting your soul to your Maker.  Only when you are alone, is it possible for you to be completely away from distractions.  Even then it is hard!  Since God is the one who truly knows you and created our very soul, only He can truly fulfill what your soul needs.  Actually, He IS what your soul needs! 

God is so multi-faceted that, even though we are all created in His image, we are all different.  Not only do we look different, but we also like to do different things.  It only makes sense that we also like to worship differently.  I like to call these different ways of connecting with God “Spiritual Pathways.”  Many call them Sacred Pathways.  Some (but definitely not all!) examples of the various ways we can connect with God might be through nature, solitude, rituals, serving, contemplating, and celebrating.  If you are curious as to what your best Spiritual Pathway might be, you might want to take a quiz to help you consider your best options.  Quizzes are never perfect, but they are fun and usually get us moving in the right direction.  This one also offers a good definition of some of the different spiritual pathways.

More Resources

If you want to delve into the variety of ways we can know our souls and connect with God, check out Sacred Pathways: Discover Your Soul’s Path to God [Paperback] [2010] (Author) Gary Thomas.  Aside from learning more about our own connection with God, you will also learn about how others connect with God. We could all use an appreciation for how others worship.  God loves us all!  

How Does This Apply to Our Families?

I love my children with all my heart, but they are not exactly like me.  I see so much of me in my children, but I also see their father, other relatives, and a vast array of other people, including a uniqueness all their own, for which only God can account.  I shouldn’t force my own way of worship on my children all the time.  I LOVE to sing. I connect to God most through worship music. I need to provide this opportunity for my children.  

But my son isn’t a singer.  He is a doer.  He is more fully worshipping God when he, of is his own accord, builds a church or cross in his Minecraft world.  He also loves being outdoors.  He probably feels closest to God when he is outside, so we need to make sure we offer him those camping experience with times of worship and deep conversation around the campfire.  (And time alone there too!)

My daughter is worshipping when she creates with her art.  Adults may scoff when a small child draws a picture for Jesus at Christmas, but she is worshipping Him in her own way.  I bet Jesus isn’t laughing.  We all connect to God differently.

If you are a parent, God put you here on earth to raise and disciple your children. It is your job to help them become the people that God created them to be. Click To Tweet

If you are a parent, God put you here on earth to raise and disciple your children.  It is your job to help them become the people that God created them to be.  If he put different ways of worshipping and connecting in their hearts, it is up to us to help them hone in on those connections and help them learn to embrace them.  This can be difficult not only because we get set in our ways, but also because we don’t enjoy other pathways as much as our own.  Exploring other pathways might take you out of your comfort zone, but aren’t your kids worth it?

Challenge:  

Spend some time exploring the different pathways.  In particular, give yourself some time over the next week to connect with God in the unique way that He designed you to do so.  Once your soul is connected and refreshed, look for ways to help your children explore the pathways that might be a fit for them.  It may be a good idea to plan to explore all the pathways with your children over the next year.

Here are a few practical things you can do to help your children discover and connect their souls with God:

• Plan some time in nature
• Create a work of art that glorifies God
• Serve others
• Start prayer journals
• Find a cause to support as a family
• Study apologetics with older children

If you want to love God with ALL your soul, you have to connect to the One who IS love.  As parents, it is our job to find opportunities to help our children connect with God too.  

 

How do you connect with God? Do you see similar patterns in your children, or do they have their own unique Spiritual Pathways?
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