by Sarah Bourns Crosby

A Practice

What comes to mind when you picture God? Allow me to guide you into a short exercise of pondering your current image of Him.

Find a comfortable silence and welcome God’s presence, whatever that might look like for you today. What do you notice first?

How might you imagine God’s face? What expressions do you see? How does He look at you?

In this picture, where are you in relation to God? As you imagine the space you take up and the space God takes up, what do you observe? How near or far away does He seem to you?

What does God’s voice sound like? What do you notice about His body language or posture towards you?

Using your five senses, paint a scene in your mind’s eye, allowing details of what you see, feel, or sense to unfold before you.

Now, gently notice how you experience God in this picture. How does it feel to sense God’s gaze upon you? How does your body respond to His presence with you?

How do you imagine God is feeling toward you? What might God be thinking about you?

Simply notice. Without analyzing or judging, hold out any new pieces of awareness you’ve received as helpful information.

How might God be inviting you to respond as you finish this practice? What does your soul want to say to the Lord? Close with whatever honest words come to the surface.

A Poem

What If God

What if God doesn’t want as much from me as God wants for me?
What if God wants to love me more than to use me?

What if God likes the way I was made?
What if God wouldn’t have me any other way?

What if God isn’t mad or mean?
What if God is exceedingly compassionate towards my needs?

What if God expects less of me than I expect of myself?
What if God isn’t comparing me to anybody else?

What if God cares more about who I become than what I believe?
What if God invited me to trust myself and be who I was created to be?

What if God desires my presence and my rest
Even more than my obedience and my selflessness?

What if God is curious about how I feel?
What if God asks where it hurts and if I want to be healed?

What if God delights in my desires and dreams
And doesn’t intend to take them away from me?

Yes.

What if God is better than I ever knew?
What if I’m deeply loved, the whole way through?
What if there’s nothing to earn and nothing to prove?

And
What if
That’s absolutely
True
For you
Too?

To find more of Sarah’s work, visit sarahbournscrosby.com.

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