The Encounter

Have you ever had an encounter that changed your life forever? This episode describes an encounter that results in a permanent change that lasts forever.

Transcript

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You are listening to Higher Realm with Lynn Little. Our program highlights biblical strategies for moving through life's difficulties and finding your path to healing. We tackle issues particular to those who have experienced painful loss in any form. Lynn is the founder and president of Lynn Little Ministries and the author of Missing Lisa, Apparent Grieves, and Finding God in Death and Life, A Passage Through Grief. Now, here's Lynn. Hello and welcome. Are you a curious person? Someone who asks a lot of questions? You keep probing until you get the full story, and even then, the answers aren't very satisfying. So, you ask more questions. You might be the type who lies awake at night, turning things over and over in your mind, and yet never truly arriving at a definitive. Ruminating. just like a cow, regurgitating old information, regrets, rehashing slights, churning it around. What could I have done differently? How can I arrive at better outcomes? And so on and so on. It sometimes feels as if you're alone in this, that no one else is thinking about the same stuff. you're often searching for something elusive or intangibles that can't always be named. Oddly, this type of person can still usually find the shortest distance between two points in routine matters like problem solving. They can do the day. They can organize with lists, delegate responsibilities, structure their time, do their jobs, and yet all the while experience a relentless dissatisfaction with the way things are. Why do you suppose that is? What is this probing and searching all about? Should we chalk it up to just a personality type? Or is it something more? If that all sounds familiar, this message is for you. Just think for a moment of the endless possibilities that an individual faces at the dawn of every day. Which way should we go? What choices do we have? And yet so much seems like dull routine. We want to break out of the tedium yet hold back either from feeling or from actually being trapped in our circumstances. We have duties, and responsibilities that endlessly beckon. They quash any thought of ever breaking out by their sheer volume and predictable cycles. But what if we were meant for a life far less mundane than the ones that we are currently living? Lives filled with joy and the realized promises of dreams and aspirations. a life where our questions receive answers and wisdom is provided for the asking. Have you ever noticed that every fairy tale, drama, mystery, or gripping anecdote begins with an unexpected encounter in some form? This encounter typically sets in motion events that otherwise would not be occurring. And the least expected and the stranger or more intriguing the encounter is, the better the story, right? We wish a life-changing experience such as that would swoop down and usher in a transformative new beginning for us. Well, believe it or not, it happens all the time. And it is absolutely miraculous. I'm talking about a close encounter of the God kind. Is this something for everyone? Throughout my many and varied careers, having traveled widely throughout the country, visited friends and relatives frequently, and experiencing the human condition through an insatiable appetite for literature and every form of media, I have come to a rather sobering conclusion about human nature. And it is this. Most people haven't the least expectation of experiencing the most transformative encounter known to man. In short, they have never met God. Even those who profess to know him have rarely ever had a dramatic encounter with him. And those of a curious nature are surprisingly uncurious about God. Why? Now, what do I mean by an encounter? Is it a face-to-face confab? Very few have experienced this. Moses and Abraham exclusively come to mind. Well, what about a vision? Surprisingly, many people have had these. One of my dear friends, a former Muslim, had never heard of Jesus Christ. That all changed when she had a vision of Jesus in her living room and was converted to Christianity on the spot. Dreams are another possibility. These are perhaps more frequent than any of the above-named encounters. Sometimes God speaks in a dream. What about a voice? No, not the kind, of course, that sends you to the loony bin. And personally, I have only experienced the audible voice of God twice in my 40 years as a Christian. Both occurred in times of great extremity, but more about that later. So what about the rest of us? Why are we not having encounters with God? How can we have this experience? Why would we want this? Sometimes our pattern of indifference is interrupted by tragedies ranging from illness to a death to a financial setback or any number of crises. Yet even then, there remains a distance, particularly if we believe God authored the difficulty. I mean, who wants to pal around with someone that we perceive to be a meanie? It's not as if God hasn't taken pains to reveal himself to us. Simply observing the heavens alone that truly declare the glory of God should instill in all of us a sense of awe and wonder and mystery sufficient to make us want to know more. We have the scriptures to turn to that offer page after page of enthralling accounts of God's encounters with man. And there are countless manner of God-given provisions from our very breath to our heartbeat to our associations to the endless variety of lovely things we have to eat. And of course, the beautiful places to visit. All of these things are a reflection of a God of love. It's just that so few seem to want to avail themselves Odd, yes? Some of our reluctance to approach God could be based on erroneous presumptions of his character. We can probably learn more by describing what he is not as much as what he is. He is definitely not the personified, quote, acts of God, unquote, insult of the insurance vernacular. He is most assuredly not the fierce anger-monger he's frequently made out to be. And fortunately, there is a resource to consult that unmistakably elucidates God and his character and his true nature. It's the Bible. The very first chapter of the book of John enlightens us to an important point. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Now, this passage makes clear that whoever this Word is, is actually God himself, correct? John 1 verse 14 tells us who this is. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. As we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. The word in the flesh is none other than Jesus Christ. Hebrews 1.3 in the New International Version reads, The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being. sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven. So if the sun is the absolute radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, wouldn't it stand to reason that If we wanted to know more about God, we would study to know more about Jesus. Throughout the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Jesus repeatedly makes it clear that everything that he is is an exact representation of the nature of God himself. When we stop to look at and evaluate Jesus, the character of Jesus, we are presented with a complete set of characteristics that define God. An account found in John 14, 8-9 puts it into perspective. Philip, one of Jesus' disciples, said, Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us. Exasperated out of his wits, Jesus replied, No. I'm just kidding. I added that. Jesus answered him, Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the Father? So we see in this vignette, God the Father and Jesus are absolutely one and the same. But that dichotomy between the way that God has been presented to us and the way he is represented in the person of Jesus are vastly different, aren't they? Even a cursory glance at the life of Jesus should completely obliterate the fiction of God as a rather disagreeable character. Observe the many instances of love grace, patience, kindness, compassion, powerful acts of provision, deliverance, rescues and healings that Jesus demonstrated while on the earth, up to and including the offering of himself to be punished for our sins. He is consummate mercy personified. This is God, friends. This is who he is. Another factor that might contribute to our reluctance to get to know God or to encounter him is a misunderstanding of what our lives would look like if we finally decided to surrender completely to God's plan. For indeed, there is a wonderful plan for every single human being. a plan that God was in such earnest regarding that he already considered it before we even existed. Stop and think for a moment about the exactitude, the loving care, the joy and anticipation with which our Father in heaven planned our existence, the uniqueness of every individual so carefully crafted, from our fingerprints, to our DNA, to the iris print, to the hair color, the body shape, and the gifts and talents bestowed on us. One should rightly assume that to step into this life with God would reveal wonders as satisfying and as exciting as, for instance, the day we encountered our perfect match, or one witnessing the birth of our child or fulfilling our greatest promise, truly satisfying our desire for love and belonging, and then when it's finally over, to be ushered into splendor. And compare that with the sad haphazardness of our current life's incognizance of God. Is it given to us, our right, to ask for an encounter with God? Well, how about lunch? Jesus makes that offer in Revelation 3.20. Here I am. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person and they with me. He reiterates the offer in Matthew 8, 7 through 8. Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives. The one who seeks shall find. And to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Does it sound as if we need to bang incessantly on the door or violently rip it from its hinges in order to gain entrance? Highly doubtful, the invitation sounds rather more benign. Interestingly, simple curiosity may qualify as a criterion. Like exploring the wardrobe that leads to Narnia. You simply walk in. But beyond curiosity, the motivating force is really hunger. Do we hunger for a different life? Are we thirsty for a better way to live? If so, how much? We can certainly try and assuage the hunger and thirst with other pursuits, but then the authentic encounter will elude us. In reality, There is no one and nothing like him. One encounter, one word from God can change our lives forever. If a person would just venture to step a toe, just a single digit into this life and experience, even for a fragment of a moment, the utter goodness of the presence of God, They would never leave. When we hear accounts of people, believers who have fallen away, it just doesn't ring true. It doesn't seem possible. This only tells us that, tragically, that person never had an encounter with the living God. Have you? If not, what in the world are you waiting for? God has volunteered for every person a way to get to know him. However, there is an impediment that has to be overcome, and it is this. All of mankind are sinners, and God is holy. In our fallen state, how can we ever hope to have fellowship with a holy God? Romans 3.23 said, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Of course, all is inclusive. No one is exempt. No one immune. But thankfully, this is where Jesus comes in. Romans 5.8 reads, but God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus volunteered to take the punishment for our sins when he died on the cross. He took upon himself the judgment that we deserve. Christ invites us to come to him, and God has promised to all who receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to to become children of God, John 1, 12. When we receive by faith that Jesus became our substitute, and through belief in him, invite him to come and take over our lives, something happens in us that is a total life change. 2 Corinthians 5, 17 reads, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone. The new is here. Some translations read it like this. If anyone be in Christ, they are a brand new species of being. So this is the starting place from living the mundane to experiencing the supernatural. If this sounds like something you are interested in, pray with me. Heavenly Father, I know I'm a sinner in need of a Savior. I believe that Jesus died on the cross to cleanse me of my sin and then rose again on the third day. Jesus, come into my life. I receive you. As my Lord and Savior, in your name I pray. Amen. If you prayed that prayer, let us know. Send your questions, comments, or testimony to lynnlittleministries at gmail.com. See you next week. Thank you so much for listening. For books, resources, or to make a tax-deductible donation, go to lynnlittle.org.