Connecting with God: Engaging Your Five Senses

“I still have the bag of sand you handed out in class ten years ago on my bedside table. It reminds me of how often God thinks of me.”

Imagine my delight while reading this text from a friend who had attended a study on Psalm 139, where I handed out snack-sized Ziploc®️ bags filled with sand from a recent beach vacation. On the bag was written:

“How precious are your thoughts concerning me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I try to count them, there would be more of them than there are grains of sand.” (Psalm 139:17-18, God’s Word translation)

My friend may have forgotten the words spoken that day, but ten years later, the visual reminder of countless grains of sand and their connection with God’s love for her remain.

I’m in awe of how God wired us with the ability to see, hear, smell, touch, and taste. Yes, our senses help us navigate the world, but they can also help us draw closer to Him. Consider the sensory-rich details of the Tabernacle, or the way Jesus often used tactile methods to engage and heal those around Him.

Spending time with God in prayer, reading and meditating on His Word are the mainstays of our faith. But this doesn’t negate the beauty of our ability to connect (or re-connect) with God beyond a particular time, a comfy chair, or a day on the calendar. Like a good father, He longs to connect with us throughout our day, and one way to cultivate this connectivity is by engaging our senses.

Sight

In Psalm 119:18, David asks God to open his eyes so that he may see the wonderful things in his law. With this as my desire as well, sometimes I light a candle before reading scripture, asking God to spiritually illuminate His truth, that my eyes may see it afresh.

Hearing

Do you agree that often what we don’t hear, rather than what we do, speaks the loudest? In 1 Kings 19:11-12, God wasn’t in the wind that ripped through the mountains, or the earthquake, or the fire. Instead, God’s presence showed up in a gentle whisper.

Consider stepping away from the hum of activity. Go outdoors, take a walk, work in the garden. Intentionally find a place where God’s quiet whisper can be welcomed and heard.

Touch

Jesus, more than anyone, knew the power of human contact. He reached out and touched the leper even though it wasn’t required for the healing. But doesn’t that come as no surprise? Jesus always had compassion for the outcasts, for those who felt invisible.

Today’s world is sensitive about this subject, but for the sake of goodness, and for God’s glory, let us prayerfully and wisely offer a human touch to those in need around us. When we do, we not only connect with God, but we also connect God’s love to those we serve.

Smell

Mark Twain once said, “Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” Unfortunately, my “heel” sometimes does the trampling. Other times, I’m the one called to release the fragrance of forgiveness because of the bruised, imprinted heel marks left on my own life.

In the perfume industry, the term sillage refers to the trail left by a perfume in the wake of its wearer. Choosing to forgive others is rarely easy, but when we do, we reflect a connection with God that can’t help but leave behind the aroma of Christ⏤the fragrance that permeates even the hardest of hearts.

Taste

Imagine a bowl of grapes, washed and ready to eat. We assume they’re sweet, but it’s not until we taste one for ourselves that we know the truth. Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (NIV).

It’s easy for me to forget God’s goodness when circumstances hijack my mind, so sometimes I will set aside a few minutes to jot down specific ways I’ve “tasted” God’s goodness in recent days. As I sip my coffee, I thank God, because, as Thomas Merton writes, “the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.”