Have Cheap Luggage, Will Travel

Unexpected Encounters

One of my favorite parts about people is finding out what makes them who they are. Learning about the parts of their past that have crafted their future and how they understand the world…People are far more interesting and unique than they give themselves credit for. I think one question that always reveals this is asking how they find the Lord in their lives.

Their answers are as different from each other as night is from day but I have never had someone tell me that they find the Lord in church. Instead they usually describe people and places “out in the world” where they have encountered the living God.

Of course these people have experienced God at church, but for whatever reason it’s not special enough to mention. It might be because we have turned church into a regular rendezvous with God where we expect Him to show up like a hair dresser for our previously scheduled appointment. It is instead the times when we don’t think to look for God that take our breath away. The unexpected encounters…

For example, I feel peace and focus consistently in coffee shops and art museums. For some reason God just built me to love those things. I always look for unexpected encounters there.

Last time I went to the Dallas Museum of Art, I found a modern art exhibit that was a room whose ceiling was covered in yellow incandescent bulbs. The all-white room and everything in it was bathed in a sepia colored light that made you feel like you were in a dream. It was so thick that when kids came in the room they tried to swim in the light and people reached out to touch their friends to make sure they were real. It’s hard to explain how cool it was…I stayed in the room for a while watching people’s reactions to the exhibit. The simple beauty of a colored light bulb was incredibly impactful. There is so much of God in the world if you choose to see it.

So, you can learn a lot by asking people where they find the Lord in their lives. I have learned not tap my toe in annoyance when I don’t see the Lord, but instead to always look for Him. You’ll never know where you will find him or worse, where you are already missing him.

Also, I have learned to embrace the times where I don’t see God as a gift. I tell the girls in my home group all the time that you can never know light without darkness. Contrast brings an amazing amount of clarity for me.

All that to say, I think my pursuit of God has gotten easier as I have realized that the promise is not that we would arrive at constant state of nirvana-like happiness but instead that we would get more God as we walk the path laid out for us. I am fully satisfied with that.

Read: Psalm 63:1-5
Ask: What do you think it means to be satisfied in God?

Read: Isaiah 45:19
Ask: What does this verse say the result of your seeking will be?