Our intimate times with our wives are often like such times with the Lord. We share moments together with our wives…closeness that is more than just sight and touch but feelings and emotions.,..and that delightful sense of being “in the moment” …and experiencing intimacy to its fullest.
We also share such moments with the Lord. We sit and recall the Lord’s Grace, think of recent lovingkindness, past things He’s done…we find ourselves in the moment experiencing intimacy and gratefulness to the fullest. Such times are bathed with emotion, flow into prayer, even a sense of worship…
Structured services like in church try to assist with this process. Songs, prayer, preaching. Though sincere and well meant they aren’t as effective as that relaxed flow of our spirit into such moments. Orchestration is well meant, but such intimate moments can’t be forced. Intimacy with our wives can’t be forced just by certain steps or mechanically doing certain things. It is difficult to force ourselves to feel in the moment…
Both kinds of intimacy require a more relaxed mode with no sense of being forced or of time being limited. There are no precise steps to be taken, instead its a gradual flow and a relaxed sense of awareness. Certain things are helpful leading to these times of being in the moment…
Sitting outside I can have such moments in the morning. I want these moments but they don’t happen automatically. I set up the circumstances and move in that direction. AS with such times with my wife, the circumstances need to be conducive. When they are…such moments often take place…and, whether with my wife or with the Lord, they are sweet. I can be in the moment, hold on to that delight, and savor that enveloping awareness of closeness and intimacy… and feel so much gratitude.
They are indeed wonderful moments… but…they slip away so fast.
Once the moment is over we seem to slip back into a routine or get caught up in the steps of life itself. The moments, though special, recede into foggy memories…though pleasant they fade with the hours and the days. Life aggressively reasserts itself–the calls to be made, the cries of children, even the thoughts of the tasks we put on just hold to have these moments…