Who is God to Me?

Who is God to Me?

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Since the earliest times, humans have questioned their existence in the world. Questions about the purpose and significance of life include:

• Who is God to Me?

• How do I Hear God?
• Who Am I?
• What Am I Worth?
• How Do I Accept Who I Am?
• Does God Want Me to Be Happy?
• Is it All Up to Me?
• Why Do I Suffer?

Perhaps you have asked these questions of yourself, others, and God. Inner healing is a key way to open these existential questions to God. 

Inner healing is a method of prayer and teaching that seeks to restore the broken places in us through reconciliation with God, others, and self.

This article introduces ways to discern the answer to Who is God to Me?

God is a Pursuer

When the announcer introduced Melissa Foley as the conference speaker, Melissa walked out onto the stage. She looked into the audience, did a double-take, and froze. Her heart leaped. 

Melissa, a sought-after Catholic speaker, was asked to present at a women's conference on finding one's purpose. She had given this talk many times (and others), but her experience with this conference stood out. 

She had prepared for her talk in her usual manner and arrived ready to set off light bulbs and ignite zeal in women who would discover and live out their purpose. She imagined supercharged women in their prime who would apply their newfound knowledge to their active lives and bear fruit for years to come.

Yet, instead of women in their prime, she walked out to see an audience of over 200 women, most of them well in their 80s.

These women are near the end of their lives, she thought. Surely, they know their purpose by now. My talk will be pointless. 

She gathered her thoughts as she fumbled with her notes and processed the mind-blowing age differential between her expectation and the silver-coiffed ladies who sat eager to hear her message.

As if to punctuate the age siren in Melissa's head, the organizers kicked off the conference with a happy birthday song to a 100-year-old. At this point, Melissa thought Jesus was pranking her; maybe she was on candid camera!

But she soldiered on and posed what she surely thought was a rhetorical question to her eagerly anticipating, smiling group. 

"Do you ladies find it hard to find your purpose?"

"Yes!" the audience exclaimed in unison, surprising Melissa for the second time.

So, with intention, she presented her teaching to a room full of mature yet hungry learners. 

After the conference, a 95-year-old woman shuffled up to her, touched Melissa's arm, and said in a shaky voice, "I now see that I've misunderstood my purpose. I understand in a way I never have before. I haven't been living my purpose well, but now, thanks to your talk, I can!" 

Melissa felt a tug in her heart as her eyes filled with tears. Her mind opened to this beautiful lesson. Through her experience, Melissa internalized a simple fact—a message the Lord wanted to append to her talking points—a message she would never forget: He pursues us until the very end. 

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Even to your old age, I am He; even when your hair is gray, I will carry you; I have done this, and I will lift you up, I will carry you to safety. (Isaiah 46:4)

Years lived don't equate to clarity of purpose; this can come at any time in life.

Abraham was 99 years old in Genesis 17:1-4 when God appeared to him and established a covenant with him that he would become a father of a multitude of nations.

God is a Rescuer

Nick had complex PTSD and physical difficulties. He was transitioning out of the military and was struggling with depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. His family was falling apart. On the spiritual side, he believed in God, though he was not actively going to church or praying. 

He came to inner healing facilitator Mary at the end of his rope (many people reach for inner healing in desperation after trying everything else). 

At one point, shortly after their first few inner healing sessions, Nick attempted suicide and was placed in an inpatient facility for 90 days. Subsequently, Mary prayed with Nick for nearly two years to help set him on a path to understanding his emotions and growing self-awareness. Changes in Nick came about slowly, bit by bit.

Today, Nick attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and meets with a counselor. He claims it wasn't until God got involved that he noticed a dramatic difference in his life and started a path to healing. Still, Nick had to say yes to God and climb the steep hill of work that lay before him. There were pits and tumbles along the road, but he proclaims his experience of God and that His grace has transformed him.

When he recounts what God has done for him, Nick stops to recollect and cries tears of joy and gratitude. These tears are in stark contrast to the ones he shed in prayer sessions filled with sorrow and regret. He beams and glows from within and exclaims,

"I am a living miracle."

Nick says God is his rescuer.  

If you ask every person who God is to them, they will likely have a slightly different response. But God is someone to everyone!

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Experiencing God personally in our hearts leaves a lasting impression and can change us in ways that head knowledge cannot closely approximate. 

St. Paul had a powerful experience of the risen Christ that about-faced the trajectory of his life. From then on, his life's cadence was to bear witness to who Christ was. To Paul, God was his Savior and strength in his weakness (2 Corinth 12:10).

When a reporter asked Pope Benedict XVI how many paths there are to God, he answered, "As many as there are people."

When we ask the question, Who is God to Me? God may shepherd us to an unexpected answer.