Sometimes as Christians we can get obsessed with the next ‘God moment’? You know that moment where we feel the tangible presence of God. That moment where the miraculous happens, that ‘shebang’ moment.
A man named Naaman has leprosy and goes to see Elisha for healing. Elisha doesn’t even see him. He just instructs Naaman to go to the river and wash 7 times. Naaman is furious and says “I expected him (Elisha) to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and I would be healed!”
After some wise council, Naaman eventually went to the river and washed and was miraculously healed. Naaman still got healed yet it was done in a very underwhelming way. It was not the spectacular moment he wanted but in the end, he was healed.
During a conversation with a friend, I was expressing how I was so frustrated that I did not feel close to God. She then asked me a confronting question, “What exactly are you wanting?” This question stopped me in my tracks. What did I want? The truth was I wanted the warm fuzzy feeling of God’s presence.
Thank God for friends who ask challenging questions. It is so important to have friends that will be honest with us. My previous post “The Value of a friend” talks more on the value of good friends.
Is the experience of a spectacular moment the only indication God is close? Of course it’s not. But I wonder if we do tend to hang our relationship with God on these moments where we experience His presence in a more tangible way.
Don’t get me wrong. I love those moments but if our relationship is solely based on going from ‘shebang’ to ‘shebang’ we miss so much in between.
It’s like we are on a Tarzan swing gliding from tree to tree looking for the next rope to grab and missing everything in between!
Focusing on the next ‘shebang’ moment can lead to a life of frustration and disappointment. If we don’t get that next ‘shot’ of spectacular we are left flat and even doubting of God.
The reality is that we are not going to have a constant stream of ‘shebang’ moments. There are going to be times where God is working in the normal. Just like He did with Naaman. We are in danger of missing those moments or being disappointed in those little things because we are so desperate for the spectacular.
Fulfillment comes when we stop ‘trapezing’ from experience to experience and embrace the journey in between.
I have had ‘shebang’ moments in my life and they are so wonderful. But a lot of my life has simply been a simple relationship with God. Walking hand in hand with Him over hills and around corners and through valleys. And as we have journeyed there have been times where I have encountered God in a spectacular way!
The fact that we have a God who wants to walk every day with us and wants a relationship with us is supernatural enough! Those ‘shebang’ moments that happen along the journey are just a bonus.
Lord,
Thank You for always being with me. Thank You that You are at work even when I may not realise it. Even though I desire those moments of tangible closeness with You I know that true satisfaction comes from journeying with You every day.
Amen
