Content to Experience God
How do you experience God?
Verse of the Day
‘Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!’
Today’s Devotional
Someone can tell you about, and explain in great detail, the beauty and wonder of the Northern Lights (or Aurora Borealis), but until you see them with your own eyes, you can’t really appreciate them.
Someone can describe to me the taste and flavor of Pappasito’s chips, salsa, and chicken fajitas with frothy garlic butter, but until I eat them for myself, I can’t truly appreciate the fabulous flavors.
The verse is talking about EXPERIENCING God in the same “tangible” way that we experience food and visual beauty. Once we begin to experience the love, grace, and goodness of God, nothing else compares. And there is nowhere else we would go for refuge. But let’s go back to our analogies for a moment.
I can be in a restaurant and watch other people eat and never taste any food. I can smell all of the food around me and my stomach will not be satisfied. I can order food and have it placed in front of me, but if I don’t pick up my fork and actually put the food in my mouth, I won’t get any enjoyment or benefit from it. I can go on a fabulous vacation and maybe even see some pretty cool sights, but if all I am focused on is the stress of travel (or the costs, inconveniences, behavior of other people), then I won’t truly enjoy what’s right in front of me.
One of the things I have learned about God is that He is a gentleman. He will not force me to experience His presence. I would suggest that I cannot ever be truly content in this world until I learn to experience His presence in the here and now.
A few months ago, I had to choose to begin getting up earlier so that I always had time to read my Bible, pray, and journal before I went to work. Before that time, I did not have a structured (outside-the-home) job, so there was always time throughout the day to find some time to focus on God. But when I had to sacrifice sleep to be with God, and it became a regular part of my morning routine, something changed. My time with God became sweeter and more meaningful. Now I am sad when that time is over in the mornings. I am learning to taste and see God because I choose to make Him a priority.
I started studying specific topics that I was struggling with, like trust and contentment. As I dug in to such topics, God’s lessons (though sometimes uncomfortable or even painful) started to become like a drug I can’t get enough of. I just want more. Being willing to study and question what I think I know is helping me to experience God.
I started praying so much more throughout the day for God to be in charge of my every moment. This is the one that is taking the longest to see progress. I am slowly learning to take my hands off the wheel of my life. I was never really in charge, but now I am slowly learning the truth of God’s sovereignty. With that is coming an awareness of God’s kindness. I am learning to experience God’s authority in a way that feels so very real.
I am making praise an important part of my day. For me, that’s music. I need to be caught up in the lyrics of a song that remind me of how great God really is. I am experiencing God’s majesty through music.
Let me clarify something. I do not have all of this figured out. I am a broken human who gets a lot of things wrong a lot of the time. But I have had moments of tasting the goodness of God. Writing these devotionals is a good example of that. Each day I sit down to write and think, “I don’t have anything to say about that verse. There is literally nothing I can add.” So I pray and ask the Spirit to give me words. So far, the words keep coming. They are a gift. They are lessons for me. Usually when I go back to read them and do my own private journaling, I do not remember what I wrote. For today, there is a tug on my heart to be writing. As I sit at my computer in obedience with no thoughts of my own, God provides. And I experience His goodness. He really does want me to learn the things that will keep me coming back to Him.
Can you remember one really good meal you’ve had in the past? I can. (Surprise! It’s Pappasito’s.) Just as I can relish the thought of a good meal in the past, I can remember the precious times when I have experienced God. I write them down. I am grateful for them. I long for more. Contentment comes from knowing that experiencing God is a well that simply cannot run dry. Even during times when it feels like God seems distant, I can learn to trust that God never leaves me, no matter how I feel.
I truly believe that experiencing God is a learned and practiced art. When I am learning a new skill, I cannot expect to be good at this skill at the very beginning. It would be foolish to give up after a couple of tries because I had not mastered this new skill. But I have done these foolish things when it comes to experiencing God. I have gotten frustrated and given up because I did not have a life changing experience after only a couple (half-hearted) attempts. I have believed the lies that experiencing God must be reserved for the very spiritual.
Today, I refuse to give up and I refuse to believe the lies that are keeping me from God. My level of contentment each day is correlated with how intent I am on taking the time to simply slow down and invite God’s presence into my day.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
How do you experience God?
How are you experiencing the goodness of God right now?
If you are in a season of not tasting or seeing God, how can you move closer to Him and “pick up the fork”?
What is one way you have experienced God in the past? How was it?
How does your awareness of God’s presence affect your level of contentment?
How can you practice taking the time to experience God?