Encountering God

One of the things that stands out to me as I study the life of Moses is how unbelief and fear can keep us from having an encounter with God.  David reminds us in Psalm 139 that there is nowhere we can go to hide from God’s Presence. He is in our midst, but our spiritual antennae are not tuned in. He is with you at work, with you as you care for your family, and near by as you nurture your friendships. The question then remains: If He is with us why aren’t our lives calm and easy? Is He a God who merely stands by and watches as our lives are shipwrecked and the pieces of our lives are scattered in the turbulent sea? Here is the truth folks– the do or die truth. You can die in the ditch of unbelief and fear or live in the freedom of knowing that God is good; that He cares; that He is true to His Word; that He will never forsake you.

Fear and Unbelief

…. that is the culprit– the two things that keep us from having God encounters. If we saw God in the midst of our turbulent lives, the whole picture would change. If we knew that He was in the boat with us when the seas threaten to overtake us, wouldn’t it be different?

When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He (Jesus) saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Jesus told the disciples to take courage and He got in the boat with them. What keeps us from seeing and knowing God is in the boat with us are fear and unbelief. And here is the good part; the part that answers the “how do we rid ourselves of fear and unbelief question?” A deep encounter with the love of God frees the person from protecting himself out of fear. Faith works through love and faith to believe God comes through experiencing love. Spend time getting to know God and allow Him to lavish you with His love. His love story, the Word will fill your need-to-be-loved tank.