You cannot imagine how many different versions for a title I’ve tried out for this post. But this is the struggle. I wasn’t just struggling to find words with the right cadence and meaning, but to find the right words to spark curiosity.

But - here’s the thing. I am CERTAIN that God put me on this earth to challenge ideas, people, and church communities - all while challenging the heck out of myself. As I like to tell my friends, “I poke bears.” By that I mean I poke at judgments, assumptions, delusions, and sacred cows. I poke at my own and others.

And yet - if you know me, you know as well as I do that despite those words - I am playful, happy, humorous, gregarious, energetic, and deeply, deeply passionate about all the best things in life - family, friends, fellowship, faith, and fun!

In fact, the only reason I poke bears - is because that’s how God made me. And I endeavor to do so as fiercely lovingly and graciously as I can - for me and everyone I’m connected to, so that my bear-poking can be a gift.

What about you though? What is the gift God made you to bring? Thanks to most of our daily media diets consisting almost exclusively of digitally engineered anxiety-inducing, misinforming “infotainment,” most of us live a life where we kind of know that our smart phones feed us a constant diet of dumb garbage that makes us angry, feel bad, feel less, feel … despair - and yet we cannot put them down - we find it easier to go there over and over throughout the day. Every day. Yet - going to God - who I know so many of us know full well, see as loving, gracious, and all the rest of the good things - and yet somehow for most of us it is not as easy to drop into some peace and quiet with God and let Him heal us from the lumps and slumps of life as it is to pull out phones out again and consume another string of utterly forgettable and yet highly influential and soul stifling content.

Isn’t that odd?

And I know - that for so many of us - this is how it is because really sitting alone with God and baring our souls for the healing, rest, and restoration we so want - feels like a hurdle. In fact - I have heard it often said that it feels like that is maybe just the thing to make matters worse.

I have zero judgment. I get it.

Some folks do occasionally sit with God and get some of these things - but dang it all if some of them don’t pop out of those times with words, attitudes, and behaviors that frankly scare the crap out of the rest of us.

I have good news though.

Spending time with God can feel like a spa-day for your soul. Everything I’ve written about connecting with God this whole Lent so far, is aiming exactly at that. We are not social-media beings; we’re social beings. We’re not just made for connecting with one another. We’re made for connecting spiritually - to a community of people gathered to encourage one another in their pursuit of spiritual growth and healing - but also to God so we can experience divine healing and connection. I had to poke a lot of my own bears to arrive at a place where I love to spend time with God. I don’t know what your bears are. Some of them are probably the same as mine. Some are surely unique to you and your life experience.

Maybe this whole post you’ve thought that my “bear-poking” is all just for the sake of making people uncomfortable, but what if I’m talking about poking God - so you can get a bear hug? Of all the people Jesus lavished love and grace on in Gospels - how do we not all know to our bones - that He’d have loved for us - as much as any of them, to poke Him and ask Him for some of the love He came to give away?

I am absolutely certain that such a poke from you, is what He’s all about!