Join me as I wrestle with those hard questions that come up and pull at our hearts. The “What if…” series is a weekly journey into the process of refinement that occurs when we seek hard after Him. I’d love to have you join me as I look at the ideas that are presented right in His Word for us to reason together and find Him. ( Is. 1:18)
I spent some time this week soaking up some verses in Isaiah and Psalms. They made me think about what it means to really experience the goodness of God. I know that my tendency to camp in the book of Psalms is because by nature I am a worshipper; I love to sit in an atmosphere were God is being praised and adored. It is uplifting. It is invigorating. It is soul-edifying.
The book of Isaiah is often like coming to a familiar friend’s home and just basking in the wisdom and light of someone who has the freedom to just be themselves, all the while accepting you, faults and all, because they are right there with you. I want to be someone who freely opens my heart, and my home, in such an inviting way that anyone feels welcome but knows they will hear truth.
So that brings me to my ‘what if’ question … {What if we really experience the goodness of God, will we make His ways our own?}
Think about it, if we really know the goodness of God, won’t we make it available to others in the same way that He reaches out to us?
Let’s start with the Word :
For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain and snow come down from the heavens, and return not there again, but water the earth and make it bring forth and sprout, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
So shall My Word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. – Isaiah 55:8-11
These words are a little sobering to me because in many ways we experience His goodness but we fail to make His ways our own. I realize how easy it is to do this, which makes me so thankful for grace. Yet, the issue that keeps emerging for me is just how easy I can place my thoughts, right alongside scripture, and assume I know and understand the infinite mind of God.
The other issue that stands out, illuminated by His Word, is the infallible nature of His Word compared to the limited productivity of my own. These last two verses here discuss the finality of what we can expect when we are experiencing the goodness of God, in relation to His Word … fruitfulness and a change in our ways.
We should know fullness because His Word creates abundance not lack.
If His Word doesn’t return to Him void, then we should be experiencing harvests of plenty in our lives. And for my own life, when I look at the weeds before me, I know that I need to question the type of seeds I have been sowing. In reality, every seed is going to bring a harvest, good or bad. When my harvest is small or limited, I start looking at the seeds I have been planting.
Pslam 34:4 says, “I sought the Lord and required Him [of necessity and on the authority of His Word] and He heard me and delivered me of my fears.”
I love this because it shows us the issue I am talking about. We are seeking Him on His authority, not our own, and in that moment when we push back the doors of limitation, seeking and requiring Him based on the authority of His Word(which does not return to Him void of fruit), then we are going to experience a deliverance that can only be orchestrated by God.
How are you going to experience God today?
So, I want to challenge you today to think about what it means to experience Him, seeking, and requiring Him as Psalm 34 encourages us. Spend yourself in the moment to fully ENJOY Him.
Don’t think, Don’t worry, Don’t analyze, Don’t compare, Don’t list…
Just BE in the moment with God and let His presence overwhelm your heart, mind, and soul till you are fully transformed, forever changed, and intimately transfigured by your encounter with the living Holy God!
To experience God is to have your heart beat for the first time.
To experience God is to see a rainbow in the middle of a storm.
To experience God is to feel the warmth of a sun-ray after the cold winter’s frost.
To experience God is to taste the explosion of flavor from the first juicy summer berry.
To experience God is to smell the sweet essence of a newborn baby.
To experience God is to hear the song of the angels in the voice of a child.
To experience God is to hold the gentle hand of a grandparent, aged and strong, passing on love.
To experience God is to know the joy of a parent recording all the ‘first moments’ in their heart.
To experience God is to find the hope after a trial is endured.
To experience God is to come fully alive after being dead to living.
To experience God is to Know, Feel, See, Hear, Taste, Love.
{What can you do today to change the direction you are moving so that you can experience God more?}
How have you experienced God in your daily living?
Please share your thoughts with me in the comment section, I look forward to hearing them.
Blessings!
Sharing with:
Lyli@ Thought Provoking Thursdays
Crystal @ Thriving Thursday
Julie @ Christian Mommy Blogger
Laura @Missional Women
Dawn, I’m your neighbor at Fellowship Friday! This was a beautiful post, so full of truth. I thought about what you said – that experiencing His goodness should change the way we live. Our gratitude for His amazing grace should be obedience.
I experience Him more when I get outside. We live in the mountains, and I always feel His majesty and glory when I look at His handiwork.
GOD BLESS!
Thank you for your note Sharon. I am envious of your location in the mountains. I confess that is a deep desire of my own… to live in the mountains, because I am drawn by their beauty and majesty. I agree, with you about experiencing God outside. I spend more time out of doors than in, and though I try hard, my nails usually reflect the dirt that I have been playing with regularly. 🙂
Bless you!
I think I experience and see God more often and more easily when I’m intentionally giving thanks and praise throughout the day. It leads me into prayers and to His Word in my heart like nothing else can. For me, it is the key to a good relationship. Thanks for visiting me. It was fun to visit here as it is the same WordPress design I use for my 2nd blog! I will be back here as I am a homeschooler too! Lots in common…:)
I am so glad you stopped, Amy! It is so much easier to see Him working when we are actively looking for it and praising Him, isn’t it. I agree, there is nothing else better than coming to God with praise in our hearts and on our lives.
What a treat to know we have multiple things in common, I look forward to getting to know you better.
Bless you!