A Divine Encounter
Trust is the natural expression of the one
in deep repentance. The nature of
these two realities is portrayed well in
"repentance from dead works and
of faith toward God."
Hebrews 6:1,
In this one verse we see the nature of both repentance and faith, from and toward. The picture would be of one making an about face, from something and toward something. Here it is from sin toward God Himself. His Presence is discovered in repentance. Repentance means to change the way we think. Our perspective changes regarding sin and God. With deep sorrow we confess (fully own up to our sin without excuse) and turn to God (upon whom we place our entire trust). Similar imagery is given in this verse,
"Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord" Acts 3:19.
Note the end result, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. In these two verses we see the pattern, the order that God created to lead us to Himself, to His manifest Presence. While we were sinners, God chose us to experience Him in such a way that we were fully restored to our original design, to live in and carry His Presence. We are either walking in repentance, or we need to repent. Repentance is the lifestyle of being face to face with God. If that is missing, we must turn back. we must repent. We do well to pursue according to His commands. But romance is no longer romance when it is commanded. Some things must be pursued only because they are there. Moses was able to distill the cry of his heart in this simple prayer:
"Let me know Your ways that I may know You"
Ex. 33:13.
Discovering His ways is the invitation to come to
Him and know Him in the way revealed. Revelations of His nature are invitations to experience Him. As He reveals His nature to us through the moving of the Holy Spirit, He will often leave us without command. Instead, He longs to discover what is actually in our hearts, as it is in the nature of the heart in love to always respond to the open door for encounter.
It's not how extreme an encounter is with God. It's how much of us He apprehends in the experience and how much of His presence He can entrust to us. Jesus manifested a lifestyle, as a man, that is intensely practical and can no longer be avoided or considered unattainable. It is possible to carry the Presence of the Holy Spirit so well that the Father is revealed to this orphaned world. That satisfies the quest for divine purpose quite well. Doing exactly as He did is what Jesus had in mind when He commission us
So Jesus said to them again,
“Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me,
I also send you.”
22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them,
Receive the Holy Spirit. John 20:21-22
Just as authority comes in the commission, so power comes in the encounter. We see it in Jesus' life, and so it is for the disciples. And it's no different for us. There is nothing that training, study, or association with the right people can do to make up for this one thing. There is nothing to replace a divine encounter. Everyone must have their own. Tragically, many stop short of a divine encounter because they're satisfied with good theology. Once a concept is seen in Scripture, it can be shared with others even though there's no personal experience to back it up. True learning comes in the experience, not the concept by itself. Often we can become guilty of looking for something to happen to us that is on our list of what constitutes a "biblical" encounter with God. The lists of various experiences discovered in Scripture do not contain God; they reveal Him. In other words, He is bigger than His book, and is not limited to doing something for us the exact same way He did for someone else. He continues to be creative, each time revealing the wonder of who He is. Many fail to realize that what is needed in this pursuit of more is an abandonment to God that attracts something that cannot be explained, controlled, or understood. We must encounter one who is bigger than we are in every possible way until He leaves a mark. It is wonderful, glorious, and scary.
