On the Sunday quiet roads of West Linn, I shuffled
through the miles, thinking, wondering, questioning and seeking God’s council on
a question that kept spinning in my mind. Throughout my 16 years of attending
church*,
I have often heard it said that, “God does not need us. God is complete in
Himself, always has been and always will be. He has perfect community with Himself
through the Father, Son and Spirit.” The mystery of the Triune God is not one I
fully understand, and I am content to sit in that mystery, to not know the
answers. But I wonder, just because God has this perfect eternal community with
Himself, does that really mean He does not need us? Is it really just a
merciful choosing that He even looks our way, listens and responds? Or does He,
in fact need us, long to be with us, desire a relationship with us?
One definition for “need” is to require something, in order
to have success or achieve a goal. At this point, I would actually argue that
in some crazy way, God does need us. He demonstrated this long ago, when:
“The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in
the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only
evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the
earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out from
the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals and
creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
But Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord.” (Genesis 6:5-8)
I think
God needed Noah. He needed to see that there was one who He could count on. I
think seeing Noah gave hope to God’s broken heart. God’s need for Noah was
further demonstrated in that He gave Noah instruction, plans for life to
continue after the destruction of the wickedness of the earth. God needed Noah
to listen, believe, and then show up, day after day, for +/- 100 years to construct
the ark. God needed Noah to believe and obey. As Noah did this, God’s grace and
glory were revealed. The same case can be stated for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
Moses, and all others who had great faith in the Lord and walked the days of
their life with Him.
But
here’s the kicker, they didn’t just need to walk with Him, He also needed to
walk with them. He never left them, enjoying being with them in the ups and
downs of life. That’s what being in a relationship means. It means you walk the
roads of life together, listening, asking, questioning, learning, and
believing. This need for relationship is in our DNA. That deep desire to know
and be known infuses all we do and say throughout our days. We are made in
God’s image, His Triune, perfect community image, and we long for that, because
it’s what He longs for. He longs for us to know Him, to believe Him, to walk
with Him. He longs to reveal His great love for the world through us.
Can He
do anything He wants? Well, yes, He is all-powerful, all knowing, and ever-present.
But when Jesus came to earth, He could have done many amazing and super
powerful things to change the world. Instead, He came needy. As a baby, He
needed to be fed, changed, loved, and nurtured. He needed to learn and grow in
the Word, in the ways of God. When beginning His ministry, He rounded up 12
disciples. I have to wonder why? Couldn’t He have just saved the world on His
own? He could have, but I think because community is in the core of His being,
He developed a beautifully messy community that held each other accountable
while living out life together. He needed them to learn and believe. He needed
them to pray and trust. He needed them to understand who He was so that later
they could tell the world all about Him. In this community, I’m confident they
shared tears and laughter, disappointments and dreams. He needed others to
share those experiences. Jesus needed friends. That is what makes Him so
beautifully human. It’s also what makes Him so beautifully Divine.
He needs
us, even longs for us to know that we are His beloved friends. He needed His
disciples to carry out their marching orders, “Go therefore and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit, and teaching
them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you
always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:19-20).
Not only did He command them to go, He commanded them to remember He is
always with them, thus maintaining the mysterious community of the Triune God
and His Creation. He gives the same command to go and remember to us, too.
While running, I asked Him, “ Can this be true God? Can it be that you actually
need me?” His answer was, “Yes. I need you to seek me, know me, and show me to
others. I need you to shine brightly in a dark world, bringing My hope to the
hopeless, My healing to the broken, and My freedom to the captives.” As I awaken to this truth of God’s need, His
longing to be in a full relationship with me and I with Him, where both parties
are held accountable to “show up” on a daily basis, I am humbled to the depths
of my being. Just as I trust in Him, in a strange way, He trusts in me. He
trusts I will answer His call and walk in His ways. He trusts I will grow in my
love for Him and for others. He expects, even looks forward to spending time
with me, walking by the lake, eating ice cream, and sitting in the quiet space
of my home. He catches my tears, and mends my wounds, while giving me eyes to
see that which makes Him cry and breaks His heart. He wants to be present in
all areas of my life, and for me to recognize His Presence in those areas. The
more aware I am of the mutuality of my relationship with God, the less likely I
am to skimp on time spent with Him in prayer. He is waiting to share what’s
going on in His heart and to hear what’s going on in mine. And I believe the overflow from those mutual needs being met will be revealed in the way I love and care for others;
in the way I walk and the way I talk, as God’s Glory and Grace shine, causing people to rise up and sing His praise. And don’t we know how
He longs to be praised, so much so if the people are silent, the stones will shout out (Luke 19:40). So by His Grace and
for His Glory, I will continue to show up day after day, to meet with Him in the quiet and the noise, in the empty and the full, in the good and the bad, because that's how true relationships roll, whether earthly or Divine.
* I am by no means an
expert theologian, but I am someone who longs to be in an intimate relationship
with my Lord. Because He knows that, He is patient with me as I wrestle with
different teachings I have heard over the years. I appreciate your patience, too.
