There you are gathering yourself to go into the coffee shop. Opening the door with only one thing on your mind – your favorite drink and maybe a cookie or a little extra treat. This is where the world stops for a minute and you can have a few minutes to let time pass knowing you have to get back out there, but these few minutes are a nice break. Standing there checking the menu to make sure you’re making the best choice, your eyes catch his eyes. As he glances in your direction you smile and look the other way, but something in his eyes says something a little more than hello. You start thinking about what his face was trying to say. He takes another look, but stares a little more intensely. 

You have his attention. As you order your drink you notice he’s taking a really long time to put cream and sugar in his coffee. Almost like he’s waiting on you, hoping you will stop at the same table. As fate would have it, of course you do. Now you start to feel like a blushed,overheated, silly little schoolgirl because you haven’t gotten this much attention in a long time. You feel noticed and you didn’t really do anything to deserve it. You’re making your way over to the table to get cream and sugar. You’re hoping you don’t trip or fall, because you know you’re a total klutz. 

Something about him moves you, something about him pulls you in, something about him makes you wonder more about him. You say, “Excuse me” as you reach for the cream, he never takes his eyes off of you. Your heart is beating fast, your mouth is dry and you know it’s coming. He introduces himself to you and asks if you have a few minutes to sit down and talk. 

This is not what you were expecting, he came out of nowhere, and besides you only had coffee on your mind. You sit down and he’s a total gentleman; asking you if he can get you anything else. He starts telling you there’s something special and unique about you. As he talks to you there’s total comfort and security. A little meet and greet turns into you sharing your true authentic self and you can tell he really is interested in you and he really cares about you. When his eyes look into yours you feel peace and love, and while he’s a stranger you feel like he’s always been there. He treats you with respect and makes you vulnerable yet hungry to hear his responses because you realize he’s super smart and he gets you, like he’s known you forever. 

You check the time and realize you have to go to work, as you say your goodbyes he follows you to the door and watches you leave like he’s protecting you. As the day goes on you can’t stop thinking about him and you keep replaying his words, because they felt carefully picked and chosen for you. His sincere and deep level of interest in that short amount of time was incomparable to any relationship you ever knew. You couldn’t wait for work to be over, because you wanted to go back to the coffee shop – who knows maybe he was still there. You were hoping to go back to that table and keep talking, like you never wanted the conversation to end. 

This is an example of intimacy. This is also what it looks like to encounter God or have a personal experience with Him. There’s a true connection that no one can ever take from you. Experiencing God for the first time can feel like this, and you don’t want it to end. You will want to keep coming back to hear him and spend time with him. However; just like with any relationship as life goes on we become busy, preoccupied, challenged, and may feel overwhelmed at times. I would encourage you to be in a real authentic relationship with God, and don’t lose that flame that was ignited when He pulled you in. Keep coming back to the table to share, to receive, to love, to grow, to learn, and to know that whatever obstacles are set in your race, He will run it with you – you’re not alone and you are loved. 

Activity:

Enjoy those moments with Him when He spends time with you and you spend time with Him, because those are the sweet moments in life when everything stops for a moment and you realize you are valued and cared for by the Creator of the Universe. While a billion things are going on in the world and universe He still spends time with you and He is with you no matter what your circumstances look like. Come to the table, and keep coming back to the table.

Prayer Challenge:

Father, I pray you strengthen me to keep coming back to the table and keep falling in love with you no matter what life obstacles I’m challenged with. As You keep Your eyes on me, help me to keep my eyes on You. Help me to run my race with You and with endurance, while not losing the flame of love that sparked the moment I met You. In Your Name Jesus, Yeshua. Amen

If you want to be in a real intimate relationship with God please pray:

Father, help me to know You as You truly are and have an experience with You through Your Holy Spirit. Help me to fall in love with you and share my life with You. I desire to have a relationship with You and deeply know You. In Your name Jesus, Yeshua. Amen 

Scriptures: 1 John 4:15-19 NASB

15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God. 16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. 17 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, we also are in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19 We love, because He first loved us.