Disconnect to Connect
Disconnect to Connect
If the image of God is our truest self, is that identity clear in us?
Guest Writer: my husband, Justin Bradbury
If the image of God is our truest self, is that identity clear in us?
When deployed in the Armed Forces there is a concern to control the use of Personal Electronic Devices (PEDs). They are a big give away to the enemy. Even without sophisticated surveillance devices, it is easy to spot a human being at night. Sooner rather than later, a person will expose themselves by lighting up their screens at a touch.
Yes, we often declare our presence by arriving at a dinner table, a meeting, our beds at night, really anywhere, with a mobile phone or another PED in hand. And, if our conversations are led with such devices within reach, how does that signal the value of someone else in that conversation?
Let’s be clear, our PEDs are often an interference in our ability to communicate and be present to others, but they are also an intrusion to receive the loving attention God wants to lavish on us.
“[In solitude and silence], the world of recognition, achievement, and applause disappears, and we stand squarely before God without props.”
So wrote Adele Calhoun, in an attempt to help us with some healthy discipline habits.
For, in God’s economy, it is in being pared back, stripped to our essential self, rather than layering up with levels of sophistication, that we connect more readily with Him.
In our raw, unadorned state we are made and loved, now, at our most honest and real.
The first man and woman, Adam and Eve are made in God’s image and likeness. The greatest achievement of a human being is to receive the love of God and His imprint. (see Genesis 1:26-27).
Perhaps this week, we can put down our devices and superficial desires to be seen and received by others. And instead, seek it from God. Let the deep cry within us rise to the surface that we may be known and loved.
And from this place of being adored by Him and adoring Him, we will connect with others with greater assurance and resonance.
Let’s permit the image of God to be seen in and through us.
