Encountering God

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matthew 7

Yesterday I heard a great sermon on “Encountering God.” The bottom line is that we don’t change unless we encounter God. We may engage in various spiritual exercises but they are without substance unless God is encountered. The purpose of life is to know God. We gain that knowledge through encounters. Those encounters lead us to increased knowledge and the knowledge of God changes us and the way we act, the things we do.

I grew up thinking that God was encountered in church. I remember the quiet solemness of the church building. I remember the reverence of the music and the humbleness of those in attendance. We can encounter God in church. We can encounter Him in prayer and in reading His word.

I think where we miss out is in failing to understand that we can encounter God in many other ways. We can encounter Him in a quiet walk on a spring day. We encounter Him in the smiling face of a child. We can encounter Him in simple acts of kindness, done by us or to us.

God encounters are not determined by place or by the nature of the event. God encounters are determined by our open attitude. I grew up encountering God in church; but I also grew up learning that God is everywhere. He doesn’t move. He doesn’t hide. We encounter Him when we learn to experience His presence. That can happen anytime and anywhere.

Encountering God isn’t a unique, one-time experience. Encountering God is an awesome way of life.