Have you ever been under the water and felt the pressure to get oxygen? No matter how hard you're fighting to reach the top, it still feels like it's not fast enough... your heart beats harder, the thought coming to your mind - 'what if I don't make it???' You feel that physical need - that desperation - to breathe in air!
and FINALLY - when you break through the surface and suck in that deep breath of goodness, you never knew air tasted that crisp!
It's in my nature to push. I fight to excel - It's like I live life swimming through the water, staying down as long as humanly possible... And by the time I feel the desperate need for air, it's a fight to reach the top before it's too late.
Why do you think it is that we often live our lives this way? What is this drive in us that makes us push so much, staying down for so long before realizing our desperate need?
I've learned that the biggest danger is living out our relationships with God this way. We tuck our head down, push through our days and nights until we finally feel that breaking point, then we push to run as quickly to God as possible, hoping we make it in time. I'm guilty of having done that. Have you?
I think back of when I was a child and my grandparents put me in swimming lessons. I remember my biggest challenge was learning to breathe while I swam. I'd use up all my air, then almost stop swimming to suck up air before going back under. I recall my instructor telling me to take smaller amounts of air at a time, but more frequently...
Is it wrong for me to compare time with God in the same way? God honors our heart and welcomes us whenever we turn to Him - I'm not challenging that. BUT - I think we might be able to stave off some of those 'desperation' moments in life if we stay connected with Him, more engaged in His Word, more aware of His voice...
So, what are some practical ways that we do this? How do you stay more connected to God on a regular basis?
Friday, November 4, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Encountering God's Presence
My first experience encountering God’s presence was at a church in Northern Virginia. I was almost fourteen. My father had been going to this church for a few months and I’d noticed a significant change in him, so I went along one Sunday morning to ‘scope it out’. In some ways, this Sunday morning church service matched the image I had created in my mind of what it should be like… that is, until I encountered God’s presence.
It started when the people were singing. I looked at the people around me, especially the young teens that were my age, and I saw the passion and joy bubbling up from their hearts and pouring out of their faces. Before I even understood what it was, my heart began to want what they had. I started to look a little more closely at the words they were singing. It wasn’t just songs ‘about’ God – they were singing right to Him! And they didn’t simply observe and enjoy the music that someone else was sharing. Everyone was involved. It wasn’t a concert. This was an encounter. A God Encounter.
I met God that day in that church sanctuary. Without fully understanding all that was happening in my heart at the time, I decided in that moment that I wanted more of God… I needed more of Him. My life has felt so desperate and ‘aimless’ until that moment. God wasn’t a “detached supernatural being who casually looked from afar” like I had thought – He was right there in that room with us. Now, my desperation was to to learn about God and get to know Him the way these other people did. And that day changed my life.
My faith journey has taken a lot of steps since then, but occasionally my mind will drift back to that day. Even though I’m a HUGE music buff, I can’t remember what songs were sung that day – but I’ll never forget the feeling of recognizing God’s presence for the very first time. The music didn’t call God down from the heavens… the song from our hearts did.
I wonder sometimes how people in our church family might answer questions related to corporate worship: Why do we sing on Sunday mornings? What does ‘worship’ really mean? What’s our goal/purpose to the time set aside for ‘worship’? Pushing a little deeper: If I were to ask you one-on-one (and you felt comfortable enough to be honest with me), what does Sunday morning worship time mean for you? Are you really able to ‘encounter God’ and His presence? How does that impact you, or does it?
Here’s the truth: It’s not enough to simply sing songs that make us feel good and happy. It’s not enough to sing songs that make us think about God… If we miss encountering God’s presence, then we’ve missed it all. Worship is so much more than songs about God or to God! Worship is a complete response (physical, mental, spiritual) to God in His fullness. And, worship of God can be expressed without any music at all… We can express worship to God through actions, words, choosing to be silent and still… (those are just a few.) It’s beautiful and authentic and even spontaneous.
My hearts prayer is that God would stir up in us a hunger for a deeper encounter with Him; that worship for each of us would become interwoven into the fabric of our every day, our every moment. That somewhere we’d move beyond the songs and allow the expressions within our heart to be released. AND that through this deepening encounter with God, our times of corporate worship (where we all come back together) would be even more focused, powerful, and life-changing - because it’s God’s Presence!
It started when the people were singing. I looked at the people around me, especially the young teens that were my age, and I saw the passion and joy bubbling up from their hearts and pouring out of their faces. Before I even understood what it was, my heart began to want what they had. I started to look a little more closely at the words they were singing. It wasn’t just songs ‘about’ God – they were singing right to Him! And they didn’t simply observe and enjoy the music that someone else was sharing. Everyone was involved. It wasn’t a concert. This was an encounter. A God Encounter.
I met God that day in that church sanctuary. Without fully understanding all that was happening in my heart at the time, I decided in that moment that I wanted more of God… I needed more of Him. My life has felt so desperate and ‘aimless’ until that moment. God wasn’t a “detached supernatural being who casually looked from afar” like I had thought – He was right there in that room with us. Now, my desperation was to to learn about God and get to know Him the way these other people did. And that day changed my life.
My faith journey has taken a lot of steps since then, but occasionally my mind will drift back to that day. Even though I’m a HUGE music buff, I can’t remember what songs were sung that day – but I’ll never forget the feeling of recognizing God’s presence for the very first time. The music didn’t call God down from the heavens… the song from our hearts did.
I wonder sometimes how people in our church family might answer questions related to corporate worship: Why do we sing on Sunday mornings? What does ‘worship’ really mean? What’s our goal/purpose to the time set aside for ‘worship’? Pushing a little deeper: If I were to ask you one-on-one (and you felt comfortable enough to be honest with me), what does Sunday morning worship time mean for you? Are you really able to ‘encounter God’ and His presence? How does that impact you, or does it?
Here’s the truth: It’s not enough to simply sing songs that make us feel good and happy. It’s not enough to sing songs that make us think about God… If we miss encountering God’s presence, then we’ve missed it all. Worship is so much more than songs about God or to God! Worship is a complete response (physical, mental, spiritual) to God in His fullness. And, worship of God can be expressed without any music at all… We can express worship to God through actions, words, choosing to be silent and still… (those are just a few.) It’s beautiful and authentic and even spontaneous.
My hearts prayer is that God would stir up in us a hunger for a deeper encounter with Him; that worship for each of us would become interwoven into the fabric of our every day, our every moment. That somewhere we’d move beyond the songs and allow the expressions within our heart to be released. AND that through this deepening encounter with God, our times of corporate worship (where we all come back together) would be even more focused, powerful, and life-changing - because it’s God’s Presence!
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