Experiencing God

Scripture:
"Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God…" Luke 7:9

Observation:
I just can't imagine what that must have been like. There this group of people was, just following Christ around when a funeral possession comes by. The boldness of Christ is ridiculous in this moment. It is critical that I remember Jesus was fully man and subject to all types of temptation. I just can’t imagine the range of emotions a normal human being would experience as he or she approached the funeral possession of an unknown person and family with the intention of raising him from the dead. Jesus had to be a little nervous and His flesh must have been battling doubt, yet He boldly walks up to the coffin, consoles the women, touches the dead son's hand, and returns life to his body.

The people who were with Jesus that day experienced something amazing. The power of Jesus became so real to them that when they saw it in its glory; fear gripped them. They could not process it and it freaked them out. All they could do was fall on their face and glorify God.

Application:
This passage blows my mind. I freak out just walking up to a person to ask for directions; I can’t fathom what I would feel in the situation facing Jesus. Fear grips me. I fear failure. Embarrassment. Unanswered questions. It is easy to allow these things to push me to live on a fraction of the faith available to me. I hate that feeling. I do not want to settle for the fraction, I want the whole. I want to connect with a God in a way that supersedes the plastic god created by churches and religion. That god just hands me some rules to live by and threatens me to be a good boy.

I want more than that. I want to experience YAHWEH, the I AM God of Israel. The creator of the heavens and earth. The Alpha and the Omega. The one true living God. The God whose power is far beyond what my mind can process. That is why I believe in God. It is not scientific evidence. It is not my study of history and facts. Those things fall short. The concept of God is bigger than simple methods can capture. I simply believe in God because I can't deny the experiences I have had with Him.

In the darkest of moments, in the midst of my deepest doubts, my past encounters with God serve as reminders of the truth captured in this text. Just one, real encounter with God is enough to get you through anything. Just one day in His house is truly better than a thousand elsewhere.

Prayer:
Father my soul longs for more of You than I currently know. I pray that I never be willing to settle to stay where I am. I want more. I want to go deeper. I want to be able to honestly look people in the eyes and be able to share with them my personal life stories that prove one day with You is better than any other way I could have spent it. The temptations of the world, the longings of my flesh, and the instability of my emotions are very real. They are an ever present, tangible presence around me. I do not stand a chance unless Your presence in my life is just as evident. I lay before You this morning beg for You to continue moving in my life and help me continue onward with the calling You have on my life.