What Should a Real Relationship with God Look Like?

The following is a transcribed Video Q&A, so the text may not read like an edited article would. Scroll to the bottom to view this video in its entirety. 

"I think we all have an expectation that our relationship with Jesus is supposed to, in some way, look shiny. It's just kind of what's portrayed. I mean, everybody places their best foot forward, and their most beautiful aspect of everything in their kid's life, their marriage life, their spiritual life on Instagram and on Snapchat, and it's like I look at those things and I think my faith is so messy. It doesn't look like that.

I think that we tend to treat our faith like... You know those Build-A-Bear places in the mall? That's what our faith looks like. You walk in, you pick out the bearskin, and then you ... What's crazy is they give you a heart for the bear, right? Then you put the heart in the bear, and then you stick it in the stuffer machine, and then it ... it fills up, and it's like ... and then you walk out with the bear. I think that's what people expect our faith to look like, until our faith starts unraveling and the stuffing starts coming out, and it's like, 'Oh no, what do I do?'

First of all, be okay with a messy faith. I think we need to be okay with a messy faith. Once you're okay with a messy faith, the waltz that you believe you should be dancing with your faith suddenly, maybe, turns into a wrestle instead of a waltz, and suddenly, you're fighting with your faith. I've found myself in this place, wrestling with my faith, a lot more than waltzing with my faith, on a weekly basis, and that's okay.

It's okay because gosh, we're never going to have God completely figured out, ever. He's so massive, so there's going to be different aspects of Him that are going to be new to us. Hopefully, we're learning more and more about Him.

I think we've got to get a little bit uncomfortable in our faith, and then also, stepping into the wild part of our faith. I look at the life of Jesus, and I did not see a safe, predictable guy. I saw a wild Jesus. I mean, again, when I say wild, I'm not talking disheveled. I'm just talking not safe. When you do that, it may be scary going in, but you're going to see God in brand new ways, and you're going to learn to really enter the wild part of your faith."

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