The Initiative Taker

When I was younger, I often felt like none of my friends took initiative. I felt as though I kept the friendship going and if we were going to get together or hang out, it would be through my doing. I wanted to go and stay at other people’s houses. I wanted to be invited to go places with them and do things they were doing. However, it seemed that most of the time, I was doing the inviting.

In our relationship with God, he is the inviter. He is the one who takes initiative and does all the work. J.I. Packer says, “knowing God is a matter of grace.” It’s something given to us that we surely didn’t deserve. He goes on to say, “It is a relationship in which the initiative throughout is with God—and it must be, since God is so completely above us and we have so completely forfeited all claim on his favor by our sins" (Knowing God, 41).

I remember when the truth of this really resonated in my soul. It was like a light turned on and I could see clearly. Everything made so much more sense. God sought me. He invited me to the party just like the father did for the prodigal son. I was floored. I didn’t deserve such an invitation.

Not only did I not deserve the invitation, I was quite sure I would have rejected it if left to my own intelligence. It dawned on me that God came looking for me. He wanted me! He wanted to know me and for me to know him. While my conversion wasn't quite as dramatic as Paul's on the road to Damascus, I am pretty sure it was similar. Paul wasn't looking for Jesus and neither was I. Jesus sought me. He opened my blind eyes just as he literally did for Paul. He revealed to me his goodness and grace just as he did with Paul.  This changed everything! It flipped my whole relationship upside down.

God knows me. To be known by him is unlike being known by anyone else. It is to be truly known and loved even though God knows the darkest parts of me. Packer says, "It is a knowledge that implies personal affection, redeeming action, covenant faithfulness and providential watchfulness toward those whom God knows. It implies, in other words, salvation, now and forever..." (41). God has taken the initiative to know me. He has done the work to secure our relationship. He is doing the work to preserve me. He will keep me with him forever.  There is no better knowledge than to know I am supremely loved by the One who holds all things in his hands—even me.

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I'd love to hear your comments about this chapter on my Instagram post, which you can find on my profile at @camlhyde.

If you'd like to begin reading the book along with us and discussing it, you're not far behind! The chapters are short and we are starting Chapter 4 this week! You can pick up a copy on Amazon!