God, Can We Chat? Growing Closer to God, One Doubt at a Timeಮಾದರಿ

With our faith panties all wadded up, it’s easy to miss Jesus’s invitation to come to him and find rest for our souls (Matt. 11:28). When we and the churches we visit spend more time and energy figuring God out and teaching about him than meeting or talking with him, it’s no wonder we’re left lost and wondering whether our Shepherd is on vacation, has given up, or wasn’t as caring as his résumé suggested.

With the central tenets of our faith being inherently relational—“the Word made flesh,” Jesus’s death and resurrection uniting us with God, and the Holy Spirit as counselor and guide—­it’s a shame we either miss God’s simple invitation to intimacy and rest, or we don’t know how to take Jesus up on his offer. Or perhaps something else is holding us back.

Our invitation from Jesus is simple: come to him, follow him, and learn from him. That’s it. No wonder his burden is light. There are no hoops to jump through, boxes to check, or rules to follow. Nothing heavy to lug around. With a very different view of the Scriptures than the religious leaders of his day, Jesus’s gospel was and is one of outrageous grace. He doesn’t say his burden is light and his way is easy because it’s flimsy or wishy-­washy but because he’s the one who does the heavy lifting. Our job is simply to respond, follow along, and learn from him as best we can.

I wish I could guarantee that your faith will transform the moment you embrace this new way of thinking and sit in the mystery in conversation with God, or that embracing doubt will feel so natural you’ll wonder why you never did it before. But spiritual transformation and the work of shifting our mindset takes time. So does learning to chat with God in this new way. As much as we’d like to, we can’t rush ahead. Instead, as Pierre Teilhard de Chardin encourages, we must “trust in the slow work of God.” For that is what it is—­his work, not ours.

God, let me think about this for a minute ...

Would you like to RSVP “yes” to Jesus’s invitation to rest, conversation, and holy doubt? If so, let’s disarm those doubts by getting rid of some of the rubbish we believe about our faith and doubts. Take a moment and do these guided exercises as honestly as you can.

Grab two paper plates (dinner plates will do if you don’t have paper). On one, write MY FAITH. On the other, MY DOUBTS (obviously, don’t write on your bone china! Just write on sticky notes and stick them to your plates). Place your faith and doubt plates as close together or as far away from each other as you imagine your faith and doubt to be in real life. Let them overlap as much or as little as you think they do. Perhaps they’re separate on either side of the room, maybe they’re overlapping just slightly, or they might be so together there’s only a sliver of one or the other poking out. You decide. You’re creating a kind of Venn diagram.

Does where you’ve placed your plates—­how far apart or close together they are—­surprise you? If so, why? Did you know immediately where to place them, or did you have to think about it and move them a few times?

As you look at your circles, imagine Jesus giving them a nudge in one direction or another as a gentle invitation to be more honest with yourself and him. How does he move them? How do you react?

Reassure yourself of Jesus’s love and that he’s not judging your faith or doubt, then take a moment to sit with him in the space between your plates or where they overlap and just be together. No need to talk. Simply enjoy his loving presence. When you’re ready, respond to his invitation in your own words.