EP 23: The Intimacy Season: Becoming Familiar with God’s Voice, Presence, and Love

This episode is for you if you find yourself in a season where God is gently drawing you closer—inviting you to slow down, to sit with Him, to listen.

It’s not about striving or pushing for answers. It’s about becoming deeply familiar with God’s voice, His presence, and His love for you.

So if you’ve been feeling like the Lord is quieting your busy world and beckoning you into something deeper, let’s dive in.

Take the Spiritual Seasons Quiz here.

Want to discuss your season? Book your FREE 15 minute call here.

💛 Ready to go deeper?
Join my Inner Healing & Neurocoaching Program — a transformative journey to break free from limiting beliefs, heal from past wounds, and step boldly into your God-given purpose.
➡️ Click Here.   https://awakenjoyleadership.com/IHNC

Transcript

Hi friends, I'm Amy Charbonneau, and welcome to. Department 88, a space for Christians who are ready to rise, heal, and walk in the fullness of who God created them to be. Around here, we talk about renewing the mind, healing from past wounds, and stepping boldly into your God given purpose and destiny. If you've been feeling stuck, stirred, or just plain spiritually hungry, I would love to invite you to take my new spiritual Season's quiz. In about a minute, you're going to discover the season you're in and get your next steps, plus a custom video series I created just for you. You can take the quiz at the link in the description below, and I'll be walking with you every step of the way. Today's episode is the intimacy season becoming familiar with God's voice, presence, and love. This episode is for you. If you find yourself in a season where God is gently drawing you closer, inviting you to slow down, to sit with him and to listen. This is the intimacy season. It's not about striving or pushing for answers. It's about becoming familiar with God's voice is presence and his love for you. So if you've been feeling like the Lord is quieting your busy world and beckoning you into something deeper, let's dive in. We often think spiritual growth is about doing more. But in the intimacy season especially, God is actually inviting us to become more. You've probably heard something like we're human beings, not human doings. Right. And there's an essence of this idea that life is so much more than the things we do. And yes, God has asked us to do specific things. But most importantly, it's do you really understand who you are as a person? Okay, so to be still, to be present, to be known intimately by God, to be known in relationship with others. These are powerful seasons. Psalm 4610 says, surrender your anxiety. Be silent. Stop striving and you will see that I am God. This season is where transformation happens through relationship, not effort. It's where you begin to notice God in the details of your day. Maybe it's a sunrise or sunset. A moment of peace, a beautiful flower, a verse that suddenly speaks volumes. A song you hear that just makes you weep. These are all moments where God is speaking. He speaks in a variety of ways. Okay, so if you're someone like me, you're out in nature and the beauty like you find yourself maybe on a beach. The beach is one of my favorite places. And you're sitting, playing with the sand and you're just all of a sudden overcome with the wonder of the story of sand. You know, how big did it begin, and how often did it have to be thrust upon something else to be broken down into small, small, small pieces? You know, things like that. Or I was at an aquarium in the Oregon coast one time, and I love jellyfish. I think they're just a curious part of creation, you know? And I was reading about them and I said, there are 60 varieties of jellyfish. And I was just struck by the like the oh, I've got like. 60 kinds of jellyfish, Lord. This animal that we like hardly ever even see or come into contact with. And you made 60 kinds of them. And what is their purpose? You know, like it just began to cause me to be in awe of the magnitude of our God. You know, and there are things like that. Um, the birth of a baby. You know, I got to, um, be in the room at the birth of one of my nephews, and, like, it's overwhelming, the beauty of it. You know, to be the observer of life coming into the world, you know, as a mom, giving life. That's amazing. You know, and the wonder of how can I love a little baby as much as I love this child that I've been growing inside, and now I'm holding in my arms like the wonder and the majesty of all of it causes us to say, wow, God, there's so much more about you that I have to learn. Um, Doctor Jim Wilder. I talk about him a lot because I really like his books and his research, but he teaches that our brains are wired for attachment. Okay. And the most powerful transformation comes when we experience joy with God and others. So the intimacy season is actually helping rewire our brain by learning to experience God's presence relationally, not just theologically. It's important to know what the Bible says about who God is. Okay. Please hear my heart. I am not disqualifying or dismissing that. We absolutely need to know the word. I actually love the verses that talk about Jesus's spirit and truth. It's both. There's a spiritual essence of presence about him, and there's the word okay. So the word is powerful. You must read and study your Bible. But the presence of God is also powerful. And we must cultivate encountering God's presence every day. And. Perhaps it's not even encountering. Perhaps it's becoming aware that he's present with you every second of every day. Most of the time, I think maybe it's that we're just not even aware you're doing the laundry. God's with you. You know, you're folding the clothes, searching for the missing sock. How could another sock go missing? God is with you. Whatever your task is, wherever you go, the presence of God is there. How can you become more aware? Okay, the intimacy season is special. In my own intimacy season, I remember God invited me to lay down the checklist of my day and just be with him. And at first it felt uncomfortable. Okay, I was so used to measuring my spiritual life by what I accomplished. You know, devotions? Check. Prayer? Check. Journaling? Check. Uh, worship for 30 minutes? Check. You know, like going to church on Sunday morning? Check. Wednesday night? Check. Bible study? Check. You know, leading a small group check. You know, whatever, whatever thing that I thought made me a good Christian or a spiritual person. I would check those things in that checklist, spoke more to me than my ability to just stop and listen to what God was speaking to me. Okay. And I realized he wasn't asking me to accomplish anything. He just wanted me. Last night I was sharing in a small group about the time I was just being with God, just sitting there, and I asked him the question, what do you love most about me? And I've I've mentioned questions like this in previous episodes, and if you're doing them, I know you're having powerful transformational encounters with God. But he told me he loves my laugh. Now I will tell you, over the years I have suppressed my laugh because people will be like, your laugh is obnoxious. Or you know they will make comments about my laugh. And so I stopped laughing in groups. Okay. I was suppressing the very thing that God loved most about me. Now, when I realized that, I cried, you know, and I, I did the hard work, I did the healing work. God forgive me, God, I forgive so-and-so for what they said. God, you know, and I, I really was intentional and let God heal my heart about those crazy things that I started believing about my laugh and I thought, if God made me with this laugh and he loves to hear it. It's an act of worship and it's a gift I get to give to him every time I laugh. So I laugh as often as possible. And then the amazing thing is, it's a gift to myself because it's actually doing amazing things in my brain and my body. Like when we laugh, we get all these great chemicals released in our body that heal and repair and restore us. Stress goes away. You feel good. You know. You feel healthy and alive and vibrant. You sleep good. Like there are all these things that come with joy, you know? And so it was powerful to just ask the Lord, what do you love most about me? Okay. And so that can be something that you do it ask Jesus. Um, so a couple other questions you can say is, what do you want to show me today? Like we talked about from Jeremiah 33 three, uh, what do you love about me? What do you like about, um. You know my face. What do you want to show me about my marriage and why you picked this spouse for me? What do you want to show me about the kids that you've entrusted to me? What do you want to teach me about the community that you have put me in? Like your church? Um. What do you want to show me about the place that I work? Why am I there? You know, and really ask God questions about your life. Because nothing is is a mistake. Okay. You're there by design. Wherever you are. You're there by design. The intimacy season is you becoming aware of the purpose, and then your authority and the power that you walk in, in that purpose. Okay. So ask God these questions and wait on him. You know, listen for his voice. Intimacy begins to reshape how we view everything in the world. I wasn't trying to earn God's love, but I was learning to receive it. Okay. When you learn to live loved, everything begins to shift. Here's a few more journaling prompts. I really want you to engage in this season deeply. Okay, so, um, God, what do you love about me? Ask this question when in my life did I feel the closest to you in? This was probably something, you know that is powerful when it comes up, but maybe it got suppressed a little bit along the way. Here's another question. What areas of my life am I afraid to bring into your presence? These are vulnerable questions. Okay. What would it look like to create more space to be with you? That one's really powerful. If, um, time, you know, managing time, or you're busy and your schedule is full, asking God, what would it look like to create more space to be with you? And he's going to show you, you know, so the action step is to take him seriously and actually do it. That's probably, you know, where it's like, okay, now I know what I'm supposed to do now I gotta do it. Okay. Um, some questions you could ask. God, our Lord, how are you revealing yourself to me in this season? Another question what lies am I believing about intimacy with you? And that one can be really powerful in exposing things like your worth. You know that you're worthy to be in intimacy with God, that he wants to be friends with you. And this is a fun question to God, what do you want to show me about who you are? And this will most likely go beyond things that you've heard in church that you see on signs or T-shirts. It's going to be something you would never in your wildest dreams think about, oh God, is that. And I won't share some of mine because I want you to discover your own. But I would love to hear them. And if you would join our Facebook community, you can share them with me. Um, most importantly, friend, God is not far away. He is closer than your very breath. So the longer you walk with God and intimacy, the more familiar his voice becomes. And just like any close relationship. Time builds trust. Now, I will tell you, there were times I can remember that I was really fighting to learn to trust God. In fact, I had, um, needed to be on a five hour car trip. And for about four of those hours, I just sang to God, I trust you, I trust you, trust you. Over and over and over, repeating and getting it into me. You know, overcoming and rebuking the lies that he's not trustworthy, you know, for ways that I blamed God and my thoughts for areas where I thought that he forgot about me. I had to say, I trust you, you know, and it's taken time. But I can tell you, friends like John 1027 my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Trust is built through the tenderness of our shepherd. Okay? And Psalm 23, you know he's the Lord is my shepherd. He makes me lay down in green pastures. Well, what is a green pasture? It's a place of sustenance. You're going to be nourished. You get food, you know, you get to be there in a safe place where you have everything you need. He leads you beside calm waters. I love that it's calm. It's cool. It's refreshing. There's no fear there. You know this good shepherd that God is. He takes you where you need to be nourished and he refreshes you. He also beats off the enemy. Okay? He's already. He's our defender. He's our protector. He's our victorious overcomer. Like the finished work of the cross is powerful. You are not defeated. Jesus is your conquering king. Okay? The enemy's defeated. Now you get to learn to rest. You get to learn to enjoy being fed by him, nourished by him, tended to and cared for by him. Okay, you will begin to discern his voice, not just in your prayer time, but at the grocery store, at the gas station, at work, at the park. You're walking your dog. Maybe you're driving down the road and you start recognizing the nudge of the Holy Spirit. And here's the beauty. As you abide in him, he fills you with joy. John 15. Um, I think it's around nine through 11. It talks about I have loved you just as the father has loved me. Remain in my love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy, and your joy will overflow. Intimacy leads to joy, and joy is the strength that sustains every other season. My friend, if you want more joy in your life. Intimacy is the key. If you feel like this describes your current season, the slowing down and listening longing to know God more, you're likely in an intimacy season and I've created something just for you. So before you go, don't forget to take the spiritual Season's quiz at the link in the description below. It's the next step to understanding the season you're in healing, boldness, intimacy, overflow or awakening, and how to walk through it with purpose and grace. When you take the quiz, you're going to get a three part video series and an invitation to join me inside my 12 week inner healing and neuro coaching program. Maybe you need a coach. You need someone to help you identify the limiting beliefs that have kept you holding yourself back from exploring the fullness of God in your life, and I can help you uncover those things. If you're longing to get free from those, finally live with joy and confidence, I would be honored to walk alongside you. This is a sacred journey. Friends, and you don't have to do it alone. We are made for relationship. And whether, um, you know or don't know what your next season is. God is with you. Okay, until next time. I am Amy Charbonneau, and this is Department 88.