~ From Susan
Everywhere I go, I meet people who say they have all the ingredients of their faith—they pray, attend church, read the Bible, and give money to the poor. Yet, their cake isn’t baked because they don’t know God. And what’s worse, they don’t know how to know God.
If Christianity is a story about restoring relationship with God, there must be more to it. Yet when I look at all our literature, tapes, college courses, sermons, and camp programs, the relational aspect of the Christian faith seems sorely underdeveloped. We give it lip service, telling others our faith is “not a religion, but a relationship with God,” but we fail to unpack the cliché. Honest seekers are left hanging.
In Closer Than Your Skin, I tell authentic and transparent stories about my unfolding discovery that God is real and can be known. I write not as an authority, but as one sharing my notes along the way.
Sensing the inklings of God’s presence and learning to hear his voice was like learning a new language—I started with the basics and gradually picked up more nuances. God was in the crises, but also the mundane events of my life. Soon, intimacy with God was no longer a myth. He was available, responsive and interested in making contact. I only had to ask and believe it was possible in the first place. After all, God, Himself said:
“You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. And I will be found by you.” (Jeremiah 29:13-14a)
My hope is that through my stories, you will find something beyond the familiar and the formulaic, and experience relationship with God for yourself.
Listen to the audio clip of the song below: Dearly Loved by Jimmy Needham (used with permission)
