| | Seeing God Some time ago I was telling someone about how I like to travel. I want to see new places, meet new people. Indeed, I had just met this guy for the first time earlier that week, thousands of miles from my home. My friend asked me, "What is it that you're searching for?" I hesitated, almost answering sarcastically, but suddenly an answer came to mind and I knew it was the truth - "God. I'm searching for God." He was a little surprised. "Don't you think you know him? Haven't you found him?" Yes, I do know him, and that's exactly why I want to find him. I seem to get little glimpses of God through the events of my life, and it's the most exciting thing I've ever experienced. I go through life turning over each moment like a little rock...wondering if I'll see God. It's definitely something that's learned. I still only recognize Him at times; now and then, unexpectedly. But, somehow, I've always felt that when I'm traveling - encountering new places and new people - stepping out from my routine life - there is a special sense of God's presence, a special recognition of his hand guiding events, a special freedom to reveal him to people. I see God working in me and working through me when I travel. I see God, and that makes me want to look for him even more. God's Work Could something that is spiritually harmful to one person be spiritually helpful to someone else? Could God want to shield one person from an experience, but use it in someone else's life? I think so. I have personally been helped by things that would have harmed other people I know, and also spiritually torn down by things that built others up. Things that worked for others didn't work for me, and things that have worked for me don't work for many others. Why does God work differently in different people's lives? Could it be that God uses many different methods to draw us because if he always used the same things...they wouldn't work? Does it have something to do with the way we are made, our human minds, wills, emotions? If there was some method that anyone could apply and it guaranteed that they would know God...then wouldn't it be easy to focus on that method rather than on God? Wouldn't it become our work rather than God's work? Unity Is it good to be unified? Or is it good to be diverse? I think we all realize that it's not about one or the other, it's What are you unified about? or What are you diversified in? We need to work together on the right things, and we need to work separately on the right things. I think we can also see that a group of people could be both at the same time. I think the classic model of a team working together is a group that is unified in purpose but diverse in action. yes, there are times when large groups of Christians should come together and do exactly the same thing. There's a time for that. But they all must recognize that it's a temporary standardization of behavior. I think there is only one thing that all Christians should always be unified in. I don't know quite how to say it, but it's something like knowing, seeing, glorifying, having a relationship with God. What if we could ever be unified in doing something other than seeking, knowing, glorifying God? Then that would be the thing bringing us together, not God! Could it be that we only come to full unity as we seek Christ individually? It's when we try to copy each other's relationship with God that we start comparing, condemning, and losing the image of Christ from our lives. The presence of God's Spirit brings unity, not the other way around. So let's look for God, let's find him, let's savor the moments when we glimpse him...let's see him in our own life! |
If we pray, we wait for God, we seek in Him more and more, He will begins to draw our thoughts all the time--every moment--to Himself, causing them to find Him within. And this is the beginning of the inward or deeper life. As soon as this change takes place, He then teaches, and change, renew us. All we need to do is keep the mind stayed on Jesus, each wandering thought, act, word or feeling being recalled (i.e.,called back) by the will of the vessel in the love of God. Then we'll "Seeing God", and "God's working", as your Title wrote. 
Conference is a good way to know Lord, but the most hard but the most inportant is to work up in your common life, Jia Yo, so now let's all do as you say.....
