By Design

Last weekend I taught at a women’s retreat, and (like always) I was so impressed with what I learned! The theme was “By Design” and my simple statement was that we are designed by God (the ultimate designer) to know Him. But what really struck me was the illustration of when two voices resonate. You’ve heard instruments resonate in harmony together, or even the voices in an quartet. Have you ever heard two voices from the same family resonate when singing?! Or experienced it?! Apparently our voices are genetically coded to resonate when in harmony with our biological family! It creates this goosebumpy vibration that is incredibly beautiful.

Now wrap your minds around this: When we are believers in Christ, we are made new. Not only are we adopted into God’s family, but we are recoded! Therefore, we are genetically coded (spiritually) to resonate with our Designer when we’re in harmony with Him! Now that gives me a goosebumpy vibration!

So I dug into that a little bit more. I wanted to understand how we are individually designed so that we can learn to hear God’s voice. When those two elements are combined, you get the opportunity to resonate with God! So again, we are designed by God (the ultimate designer) to know Him. If you have felt stuck and helpless in knowing God better, keep reading for ideas on how to dig into your design so that you can know how better to pursue God!

LEARNING STYLES

A very basic place to start is discovering what your learning styles are, because if we want to learn more about God, why not do so in a way that is most natural to us? Pursue God in the way you were designed! This means going beyond the Instagram posts of someone’s fresh cup of coffee, an open Bible, and a beautiful journal. It means going beyond sitting in church on Sunday mornings listening to a sermon. Pursuing God the way you were designed means digging into His truth in a way that you would dig into any subject that you were passionate about and wanted (or needed) to learn and retain.

Think back to middle school or high school – the formative years of your life.

What was your favorite subject to learn? Why?
Who was your favorite teacher to learn from? Don’t think of your favorite teacher (because those are the ones that inspire us or understand us the best). Think about your favorite teacher to learn from. Who taught you the best in a way that you could learn the best. Why?
What one lesson really stuck with you? How did you learn the lesson?

Here are some of the main learning styles in the U.S. Jot down the one or two that are yours (most people have a primary learning style and a couple of secondary styles as well):

Visual (spatial)
You prefer using pictures, images, and spatial understanding to guide the learning process.
Aural (auditory-musical)
You prefer using sound, rhythm and music.
Verbal (linguistic)
You prefer using words, both in speech and writing.
Physical (kinesthetic)
You prefer using your body, hands and sense of touch to learn through doing.
Logical (mathematical)
You prefer using logic, reasoning, patterns, categories, and systems.
Social (interpersonal)
You prefer to learn in groups or with other people, sharing stories, team work, and comparing ideas with others.
Solitary (intrapersonal)
You prefer to work alone and use self-study to achieve individual goals.
Naturalist (experiential)
You prefer to observe and experience the world around you, using trial and error to capture information

WORSHIP STYLES

The next place to go is to how you prefer to experience God. We are also designed to be drawn to God, and in very specific ways. It goes beyond the worship service and the Christian radio station. In 2011 I heard Sunder Krishnan say this:

Worship is like hoisting the sails to be able to move in the direction of the Holy Spirit. It is meant to quicken the conscious to the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open your heart to the love of God, to devote your will to the service of God. Worship is making the changes in priorities and necessary life adjustments to get as much of God as you can in all of life.

Think back over your years as a believer.

What are specific times you remember being connected with God?
What were you doing at the time?

Here is a list of the major ways that people are designed to worship. Again, jot down the one or two that are your primary worship styles.

Aesthetic (majesty)
Here worship should be accomplished in an environment of beauty, order, tradition and artistic integrity. The way things look, sound and connect are important to them. This person feels most comfortable in an environment architecturally designed for worship.
Experiential (joy)
They want to feel the presence of God when they meet Him and respond with the full range of emotions and physical expressions – clapping of hands, stomping of feet, dancing, singing and praying with enthusiasm, and weeping and laughing.
Activist (achievement)
The activist sees all of the Christian’s activity as service. When they meet God they expect the agenda to focus on achievement. They want to worship by communing with God about good things that need to get done. They are driven by compassion for the disadvantaged or prophetic anger against oppression or urgency about unreached people. The word “vision” is often found in their speech.
Contemplative (listening)
Their instinct is to meet God, not in the midst of a busy project but in the quiet of the inner life – that space of the soul where one meditates, listens and broods on the wordless wonders of a God who meets people in solitude and silence. They emphasize the place of spiritual disciplines. They believe that prayer is a two-way communication – and may even say that prayer is more about listening that talking.
Student (truth)
Truth is their greatest quest – truth that is conveyed in carefully crafted words and doctrines. The student believes that God is most profoundly discovered in Bible study. They are drawn to objective Biblical verification of an experience.
Relational (love)
The relationist speaks of a love for people. The relationist is convinced that God is most present and intimate when people experience an unusual bonding together for fellowship, worship or mutual support. They love meetings – small circles where people share intimately with each other.
Naturalist (creation)
Creation reveals God’s majesty. The naturalist finds their heart more open to God when walking about in nature. They are overcome with the tapestry of stars, soothed by the babble of a nearby brook, and captured by the dappled sun filtering through the leaves. This person has moments of awe at the scope of the mountain ranges and the vastness of the seas. They learn about God by observing natural life cycles in creatures and plants.

Now you can spend some time thinking about your personality and pastime preferences. Do you see similarities to your learning and worship styles? Are there differences?

Where the Rubber Meets the Road

Find ways to spend time pursuing God in ways that you’re designed to. If you need help with ideas, please comment below or reach out to me! I would love to help you come up with a strategy that you will love and will ultimately result in your voice resonating with God’s! At the retreat we had several stations that incorporated different learning and worship styles for the ladies to try. I could easily send you that list to get you started!

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