You are Invited!

“The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you.”

—Deut. 31:8

“You are invited.”

Those words always gave me a thrill when I was younger and I needed a social life. Nowadays, it usually means someone wants me to take on more credit card debt, or visit a timeshare, or in some other way, waste my time and hard-earned money. It isn't really about me and it really isn't the type of invitation I appreciate in the way I did as a younger person.

But, there is an invitation that does get me excited when I recognize it for what it is. As Ruth Haley Barton writes, "It is an invitation to communication and communion with the One who is always present even when our awareness has been dulled by distraction." Time alone with God is one of my life's greatest pleasures.

Rather than experiencing enough of those times, it seems it is me inviting God to participate in the activities of my life, to answer my prayers, or to do something that I want Him to do, as though that would make Him happy just to be invited. I often wondered why it didn't feel as though God was all that enthusiastic over being included in my plans. Sometimes, it seemed as though He didn't even show up for my party. Imagine that.

What I came to realize is that God is the One who needs to be doing the inviting. He is the One who needs to plan the places I will go, the paths I will take, the pace at which I will get there. There is a need for me to recognize the experiences that I may have throughout the day, often unexpected and not always appreciated, are invitations for me to participate, to discover what God is doing, has already done, and to participate in the way that He has already equipped and planned for me to do so.

Even when I dread what is about to happen, even when things don't go the way that I had hoped or prayed, or things occur that are clearly not what I would choose to happen, I need to see everything as an invitation from God. I can rejoice as though I had just been treated to a surprise party. I need to see that God has already gone before me (Deut. 31:8), He is not going to be taken by surprise by anything that may occur, and He has promised that He will bring good out of any situation; because I have been called (invited) to accomplish His purpose in that situation (Rom. 8:28)!

You’re invited too. You just have to show up.