A particular verse (8) in Psalm thirty-four encourages us to experience God. This and many other scriptures are those in which God is asking mankind to come into an experiential relationship with him. This theme seems to be consistent: give God a chance in your life and you won’t regret it. This is not just for salvation because salvation is the tip of the iceberg in a relationship with God. At a time when many have faith in science and trust technology, the ancient invitation remains the same. Our text is for us to discover God anew in our private lives. So, let us taste and be blessed.
There are a multitude of examples in the Bible of people who experienced God. Moses at the burning bush found that the optimal use of life with God is not in a self-guided path. It is what God provides as a means to fulfill his calling to us. When Jacob struggled in the nighttime with an angel, he was also struggling with God. As God has dealt with, he leaves upon us a special “wound.” Paul called himself a prisoner of the Lord. There may be times in which we do not want to deal with God and see ourselves as his prisoner. The reason likely is that such a relationship involves a spiritual ministry, unknown to us, a silence that leaves us no choice other than being open to God. Truly open to him. Recall when Peter denied Christ, he had a guilt from his loss of meaning to life without Christ after betraying him. Our own guilt and the guilt of others is equally met at the divine court on the cross.
So, what are the steps to experiencing God? If we are open to the answer to this questions the first thing we will discover is that over the millennium God has revealed himself through the ages and dispensations of time. This is not a matter of simply providing ourselves with information. Instead, it is a requirement in which we must participate from a standpoint of a genuine commitment with the Almighty. We must surrender our naïve shock response to the world’s lack of desire for God. And during so we must answer the question to where is our urgency that accompanies a discussion about God.
We may take steps in experiencing God but first we must realize what that experience is. Such a relationship is also a calling from heaven’s throne. We are of those creatures that are part of the “I Thou” relationship similar to the allegory in Jeremiah’s Potter and the clay. Our relationship means that we must continue to reexperience, relearn the rudiments of a relationship with the divine. In some respects, it is maintained through our own personal needs or concerns. No doubt there is a requirement involved in which we must give up having it our own way.
Experiencing God is a gift from the will of the Divine Giver. Once he gifts a person, that person in turn becomes a gift to the church and to the world. (Ephesians 4: 7,8) Whatever giftedness is enrolled in our lives we will view ourselves as a gift from God. In the process of experiencing God, we also come to understand what it is to bear fruit from the Holy Spirit. It is out of and from and with, in faith, that comes by living a life pleasing to God. It is a result of a relationship like no other relationship that could ever exist. The Holy Spirit is the facilitator of our giftedness. We then become the facilitator of blessings or gifts to others. the answer to experiencing God is to say, “yes.”
Christian Writer 