| | Or rather, I'm trying to.
Too many times, everything in life, and even in faith, is about ME.
It's about how I feel, it's about MY dreams and hopes, it's about God
meeting MY needs and making Himself real to ME. I become obssessed by what God's plan for me is, obssessed
by Him either answering or not answering my prayers for myself,
obssessed by having Him meet my deep spiritual and emotional and mental
and social and physical needs.
Of course, I know that part of a healthy relationship with God is
knowing He does have a plan for me, and can answer my prayers, and will
meet my heart's deepest needs.
But when I can never look beyond those things into worshipping Him simply for who He is, something is definitely wrong.
When I can never look beyond those things into living for Him and
loving Him with every fiber of my being, something is definitely wrong.
When I can never look beyond those things into seeing the pain and neediness around me, something is definitely wrong.
When I make my devotion and relationship with God conditional upon Him
first healing and blessing me and solving my issues, something is
definitely wrong.
My favourite book of all time, "The Sacred Romance", talked about
having a dream big enough to live in. It's gotta be a dream that's not
just beyond my personal goals and desires. It's gotta be a dream that
completely engulfs and envelopes and obliviates all of those
things. It's gotta be a dream where my personal goals and desires are
no longer the primary focus or the driving force behind my actions.
The trouble with my incomplete understanding of the Gospel is that it
has always been about God and me. And I think I've discovered most of
what needs to be known in this area. I've had a lot of encounters, a
lot of experiences, a lot of conversations, a lot of miracles and
healings and breakthroughs.
So when people ask me how this camp was for me, I have to tell
them very honestly that I had no personal, soul-wrenching,
mind-boggling encounter with God. Because God knew that wasn't what I
needed.
Instead, at this camp, God showed me Christianity isn't just about God
and me. It is, even more importantly, about God and... everyone else.
God and the world He died to save. God and the Church He is preparing.
God and the purpose He has for everyone.
If you think about it carefully, I'm not belittling the role of God as
my personal Saviour in any way. All I'm saying is that He wants to move
me to the next level.
Yes, believe it or not, there IS a level beyond just seeing God's hand
in every event in your life. There IS a level beyond personal
prophecies and healing touches and words of knowledge for your future.
There IS a level beyond your individual struggles and failures and
triumphs.
It's called Seeing God Work in the Lives of His People.
No, I didn't have a personal encounter with God at this camp. At least,
not in the traditional sense of the sobbing and laughing and getting
slained and delivered and feeling like a new person.
But I had a general encounter with Him. In a very real way, I saw how
important people are to God, and to what lengths He will go to save and
change them.
And maybe, after all, that is even more powerful.
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| | Posted 12/30/2005 6:23 PM - 75 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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