Do You Want to Encounter God?
THEY HEARD THE SOUND OF GOD
“They heard the sound of God as He came to walk in the garden” (Genesis 3:8).
In these brief words found in the opening chapters of the Bible, we discover a great truth – God is interested in interacting with us. As we read through the Scriptures, we see again and again where God engages with men and women, and even boys and girls. In the Old Testament, just to mention a few, Moses first encountered God through a bush that burned. The priests at the dedication of Solomon’s temple could not minister because the glory of God’s presence was thick in their midst. And Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego met God in Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace.
Perhaps one of the most beautiful statements showing God’s desire to engage with us is found in John 1:14 (NIV), “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” Pause for a moment and think about those words – the creative God of the universe became like person so He could live with us. Acts 2:4 takes the God encounter to a whole other level when it says the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit. These God encounters don’t stop. An angel was sent to release Peter from prison. Philip was sent to the desert to preach. Paul encountered God on the road to Damascus. And John saw Him on the isle of Patmos.
It is clear, God is interested in us. If you struggle to believe this, you are not alone. David asked in Psalms 8:4 (KJV), “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” And yet, over and over, God makes it clear, He wants for us to encounter Him. In fact, the entire Bible is one story – the story of how God chooses to interact with us.
HOW DO WE ENCOUNTER GOD?
First, you must desire an encounter. There are a few cases in which people were surprised by a face-to-face with God – think about Balaam and his donkey (Numbers 22). However, in most instances found in Scripture, those who experienced God were in some way or another pursuing God: remember Andrew ran to Peter to say, “We have found Him.” They were looking for Him. If we too are to experience God, we must passionately pursue Him.
Second, we must believe that He desires to interact with us. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God said, “When you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” (29:12-14 NLT). He is saying, “I’ll make sure it happens.”
Psalm 27:8 (NLT), “My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me.’ And my heart responds, ‘LORD, I am coming.’”
James 4:8 (NLT), “Come close to God, and God will come close to you,” (4:8 NLT).
Third, position yourself for an encounter: physically and spiritually.
Position yourself physically by being present where you expect God to interact: worship gatherings, prayer meetings, and volunteer opportunities. When you attend these events, attend them in mind, body, and spirit. For example, go to church expecting to encounter God, go to prayer meetings with anticipation that you will experience the supernatural, volunteer at humanitarian events knowing God has said, “When you do it unto the least, you are doing it as unto me.” To be clear, God can manifest His glory anywhere at anytime. It doesn’t have to be at a church event. However, if we truly desire to engage with Him, we will want to take every available opportunity.
Position yourself spiritually through a daily devotion of prayer and Scripture. Daily devotions may seem small, but those little encounters with God will are just as critical to our transformation as the big encounters. Doubly, it may be the little encounters that lead to dramatic God moments.
EXPECT TO BE CHANGED BY AN ENCOUNTER
Expect to be changed. In the Bible, Abram was changed to Abraham, Jacob to Israel, Simon to Peter, and Saul to Paul. Each of these name changes reflect a change of who they were as a person. The same will happen to us. Well, it’s not likely that God will change your name, but unquestionably, the more you interact with God the more your personhood will be changed. Sometimes these changes are dramatic, as with what happened to the apostle Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). More often, however, these changes will be incremental transformations; God, day by day, transforming us.
PURSUE YOUR ENCOUNTER
I encourage you, build up your faith, build up your passion, and pursue God – pursue His manifest glory, His voice, His face. He wants to engage with you. The question is, do you really want to engage with Him?