Playful Spirituality

I came across a startling discovery the other day while cleaning the house. My middle child asked me if I would spend some time playing with her. I said "sure" and told her I would  meet her in the other room.

I went into the other room and waited for a while, enjoying the brief respite from my cleaning. She never showed, so I got up and went back to cleaning.  About 10 minutes later, Presley came into the room. "Dad, I thought you said you would play with me!?"

I explained that I had waited for her and she didn't come.

It then occurred to me that in my own spiritual walk, I have had the same cycle of emotions & reactions to God. While He "walked by", whether it was in the form of a powerfully emotive worship song or a bit of scripture that leaped off the page, I would emphatically ask, "God, will you spend time with me?"

"Sure, Kevin. I will meet you in the other room...."

And I never show. I get preoccupied with whatever else happens to be walking by and my excitement about spending time with Him is lost. Then, in the end, I blame God for it, asking why He never showed up.

In Jeremiah 29, God already promised us that He would be there:

"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you."

So I walk away with this playful spirituality that remembers that God is in the other room and I don't have to ask Him to come. He's already there.