Date Night

Let’s say some super hot guy just asked you out to dinner and you say yes. A few days later, the evening of the date arrives…

You want to look your best.

You do things you don’t normally do every day.

You wash your armpits. You comb (or draw on) your eyebrows. You shave. You put more perfume or deodorant on than you normally would. You check and double check the mirror to make sure you brushed away the coffee stains and chocolate chunks from the candy bar you just ate to help calm the nerves.

You might even dress in a whole new outfit, just for the evening.

You want to act your best.

When he opens the door, you say thank you. When he asks you a question, you make eye contact upon answering. When the conversation reaches a pause for air and a sip of water, you resist pulling out your phone and texting your best girlfriend a play by play of what’s happening.

You also talk your best.

Once the conversation finds a rhythm, you want to put your best foot forward. You want to appear you know what you are talking about, you want to appear kind, strong, funny, or courageous, so all topics you choose to converse about highlight the qualities you want to highlight about yourself. You want to be liked.

Or you engage in such a way that leaves you talking less and asking about him more. That way you don’t have to say much and can actually enjoy the food set before you (hoping none, of course, sticks to your teeth).

But what if your date already knows everything about you?
What if dressing up, acting your best, and talking your best has no effect on him?
What if your date was already madly and completely in love with you right from the start? Right from when he knocked on the front door.
Before you uttered just one word, he already knew what you were going to say.
And despite knowing everything about you, he loves you so affectionately and completely.

You see my dear friend and internet stalker, that’s who God is.

He’s not some teacher on test day scanning the classroom to see who cheats so he can send them to the principal’s office to be punished. He’s not some coach that just sits on the sidelines, passive, calling out plays that he himself hasn’t done in over twenty years. And he’s not some boss who has eyes for no one but the new employee, while you’ve been collecting dust in your cubicle just waiting for that promotion.

But God is jealous.

Jealous for our time, our false sense of security, our busy schedules, our illusion of contentment, our desires.

Before the date, you washed your hair, painted your toenails, put on a new dress and none of these are evil…
…saying “amen” after your prayers, filling up your bank accounts, baptizing your congregations and giving to the poor, none of these are evil…
…but God calls us to stop finding our identities in those things.

But, instead, do one thing, show up.

Show up to the date ready to be filled. To be taught. To be found. To be loved.
Order grace and chew on it for the remainder of the evening. For the remainder of your life.

You see, God doesn’t want to meet us in a five-star restaurant with china patterns, decorative wallpapers, and chandlers hanging above every table. He wants to meet us where we are, even if that’s a truck stop with $2 burger nights and our dresses are covered in grime and our fingernails are covered in dirt.

He knows us. He knows we’re dirty. He knows our lusts, lies, and limits.

But he still wants to meet us.

Not in a throne room. Not in a hotel. Not in a hospital.
He wants to meet us where we are.

Because after we meet him, dine with him and let him in… How can we stay the same?