I hear criticism of those who seek one experience after another of the Holy Spirit and I agree that living by our experiences alone, focusing on our emotions alone is a dangerous thing. God calls us to live by faith, not by feelings.So how do we experience faith?
By reading His Word, through prayer but also by serving Him and loving others. All of our experiences of God are valid and help strengthen our faith in Him. When we look at Hebrews 11 we see so many faithful men of God who experienced Him in powerful ways. There was Noah who when warned of things to come, built an ark and was the laughing stock of those who were to die in the flood. There was Abraham whose faith was so great that he was willing to sacrifice his much longed for son. Their experiences of God were of obedience and waiting - and so it is for us. Often the Lord meets us in a place of solitude and stillness, often in the turmoil of our busy lives; He also meets us in the dry and difficult times. There may be times of sweet refreshing where we see daily the wonderful outpouring of His provision, His power and His love. All of these states hold experiences of God, encounters with Him. If in the dark times, the times of sadness we are able to look to Jesus, we will experience a side of His character that we do not find at any other time – His heart of compassion. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23.
Jesus doesn’t leave us when our friends turn from us; He doesn’t leave us when we struggle with temptation; He doesn’t forsake us when we are weak in our faith and unable to see Him. He is gracious and compassionate, doesn’t anger easily and loves us a whole bunch! So whatever state you feel that you are in physically, emotionally or spiritually, if you’re tired or sick, sad or feeling a long way from God, Jesus never leaves you and every day you are having encounters with Him even when you don’t realise it. But how do you know? With the eyes of faith. I think of faith as being hindsight before the fact. With hindsight we look back and see that God had His hand on us and that everything worked out as He planned. With faith we can look forward and see that God is in control even when (or especially when) we’re not. By faith we know that Jesus will always be with us, because His Word says so. Do you know that? He will never leave us or forsake us. Do you know that in your heart as well as your head?
But what about those God encounters that we don’t realise we’ve had? What are they?
When did you last help someone who was in need? Maybe a friend with their coursework or an old person with their shopping. Have you ever had someone let you go first in the queue? Ever had a friend tell you that you look good when you feel rotten? Ever had a baby smile back at you? Ever given someone a hug when they’ve really needed one? Ever prayed for someone who’s sick and asked God to heal them? I could go on giving you examples but it’s for you to come up with memories of the encounters of God that you have experienced and thank Him for them. Consider where the love came from behind all of those acts of generosity and grace that you give and receive every day. Simple things. Sometimes it’s that we’ve woken feeling moody or unwell and realise a few hours later that we feel great – maybe someone prayed for you? It is as simple as that; by praying for someone you are touching the heart of God. He showers us with His love and comes and meets with us in ways that we cannot always understand or recognise. God would love us to be able to recognise Him in all of the simple ways that He loves us and loves through us every single day. Start praising Him for the simple expressions of His love and your faith will grow ... maybe one day He’ll ask you to build an ark!
