Plainly Speaking
     with Karl J. Forehand

 

 

 

Encountering God

by Karl J. Forehand

 

  Before the harvest begins, I believe we must first encounter God.   Some of us have been so busy trying to meet all our duties that we haven’t really encountered God this Christmas.  There are so many presents to wrap and people to visit.  But, encountering God is not just a class we take or a thing we should talk about, it is something we must long for.  Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, encountered God in a powerful way shortly before the first Christmas.  Let’s take a look at this story.

 

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.  And they were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.  And they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years.  Now it came about, while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division,  according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.  And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.  (Luke 1:5-11)

 

  Zacharias was a priest, married to a lady that was from a priestly family.  It was a double-honor kind of thing.  If he lived with us, he would have had a house in the suburbs, a good family and been active in the church, maybe even on staff.  The community respected him.  He and his wife were good people.  The only dull ached they struggle with was that they had not had any children. 

 

  Get a picture of this day.  He is on his two-week rotation that accompanied being a priest.  He will have various duties as the hundreds of priests in his division perform various duties when it was their turn.  Today, he has been chosen for the once in a lifetime job of lighting the incense that burns on the altar next to the Holy of Holies.  He is allowed to take two people with him to assist, but after they are gone and he lights the incense, Gabriel appears next to the altar. 

 

  As amazing as this encounter was, the exact same thing can happen to us every day of our life.  You see, in many ways the Jews were impotent in the ways they could worship.  They had to go to the temple and they depended on priest to draw them near to God.  The temple, for us, has moved.  It now is within us, by the Holy Spirit and we can encounter God every day of our lives.  We can have that “once in a lifetime” experience every day if we choose to.

 

  Let’s look a little closer at the encounter, so we will know what to expect when we encounter God.

 

And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear gripped him. (Luke 1:12)

 

1.      It may be terrifying

 

  Zacharias had his mind on the rituals that he was performing.  He was not necessarily even thing about God.  I guess that he probably was imagining what his friends would say about this special duty.  But God needed to see him and when Gabriel appeared, “fear gripped him.”  It is similar to Isaiah who exclaimed “Woe is me” when he caught a glimpse of heaven.  The shepherd, in the next chapter, were described as “terribly frightened.” 

 

  Since we are not in the habit of encountering God, the first encounter might be frightening to us. 

  In The Chronicles of Narnia, an allegory by C. S. Lewis, the author has two girls, Susan and Lucy, getting ready to meet Aslan the lion, who represents Christ. Two talking animals, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, prepare the children for the encounter.

  “Ooh,” said Susan, “I thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”

  “That you will, dearie,” said Mrs. Beaver. “And make no mistake, if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”

  “Then isn’t he safe?” said Lucy.

  “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the king, I tell you!”

  Encountering God will take us out of the norm of our everyday existence and put us on ground that will seem frightening. 

 

2.      We may be doubtful

 

But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John.  "And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.  "For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine or liquor; and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, while yet in his mother's womb.  "And he will turn back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God.  "And it is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous; so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."  And Zacharias said to the angel, "How shall I know this for certain? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years."  (Luke 1:13-18)

 

  Zacharias was in the presence of God, but he still doubted.  Why?  Because he viewed God’s direction based upon his circumstances.  Zacharias said in essence, “I’m sure you can do it God – I know you parted the Red Sea – I know you have done many similar miraculous things – but I’m not sure you can do it through me because of my circumstances.” 

 

  We say similar things to God:

            “I’m sure you can do it but not through “little ole’ me.”

            “I’m just not sure God could work in my situation

            “I’m just not sure I could help spread the Gospel because of my talents.”

 

  Some of us are hiding when we could be used mightily of God.  God delights in doing the impossible through the imperfect in the most improbable circumstances.  What are some things God does?

 

-          He causes babies to be born to the barren

-          He used a shepherd to slay a giant

-          He used a harlot to save His people

-          He helped 300 dumb guys defeat thousands

-          He brought down the walls of a fortified city with some loud mouth musicians

-          He used a short, stuttering, pompous Pharisee to become on the greatest evangelists of all time.

 

  We have to get out of the “little ole’ me” mode of excuses.  You are exactly the kind of person that God uses.  I sometimes pray that God would send only perfect people to my church.  Then he reminds me that then they would need a perfect pastor.   God doesn’t use perfect people, because they don’t exist.  He uses ordinary people to do the extraordinary.  Your unusual circumstances or your inability may be the thing God wants to use to prove His power.

 

3.      God may have to close your mouth

 

 And the angel answered and said to him, "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God; and I have been sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news.  "And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which shall be fulfilled in their proper time."  (Luke 1:19-20)

 

  When considering evangelism, we often worry about what we should say.  The surprise of encountering God is that It is not what we say.  It’s what He is allowed to say to us.  What would Zacharias have done after His encounter.  He would have run out and said, “You wouldn’t believe it . . . “  If he lived today, we would have put him on Dobson and signed a book deal so that He could tell us all about the encounter.  God didn’t desire press for the event; He was concerned that the result of the event would produce obedience.  Since Zacharias doubted, God had to limit him.

 

  But aren’t we supposed to preach (proclaim) the good news.  Yes, we are supposed to proclaim, but only when God says so and most often it won’t be in the way we imagine.  God convicts us of a lost soul, then we immediately begin talking and planning a way to “attack.”  God may have to limit us.  We can’t just hear the instructions and set off doing things our own way.  The first step in evangelism is to pray that God would send us someone to witness to. 

 

  He very often keeps us from doing what we want so that we will do what we should. 

 

4.      God may take you out of your routine

 

And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the temple  (Luke 1:21)

 

  Obviously Zach and the other priests had a certain amount of time that they normally spent at the altar of incense.  I imagine his wife looking at her watch and saying, “What is he doing in there – I’ll be he’s goofing around – this opportunity went to his head – doesn’t he know the roast is in the oven?”   

 

  In reality, sometimes we say “God can’t be blessing me, because my routine has been so messed up.”  Because God works in ways that we have not before imagined, we often sneer at God because he has taken us out of our beloved routines.  He may be allowing our routines to get shattered for a reason.  We must be sure we don’t organize God right out of our lives.  Routines and time management are good, but God may have a different plan for you day.  If you don’t allow Him to disrupt your routine, you may have a totally productive day without God.

 

  Someone said, “The trouble with milking cows is that they never stay milked.”  A routine that is totally followed will still show up the next day.  I like to fast about once a week, just to take me out of my routine.  It helps me encounter God.

 

5.      You WILL have to be obedient

 

  (Read Luke 1:57-66)

 

  Many Christians say something similar to this occasionally, “I’m tired of God always whippin’ me.”  The other day, I noticed some boys cutting up during the music performance.  The next day, the superintendent had them lined up in the halls.  He was handing them trash bags to clean up the school lot.  They all had the same look on their faces.  It was the look that said, “Why does this always happen to me?” 

 

  Why does God “spank” us?  We assume that He must not love us, even though God’s Word says that He disciplines those He loves.  He desires and deserves obedience.   He knows exactly what is best for us and desires that we obey Him.  We have had the same conversation with our children.  We tell them, “I have your best interest at heart – I desire obedience from you and the things I make you do are for your benefit.”

 

6.      God ultimately wants to bless you

 

  Don’t you want to bless your children?  I do.  If children would only recognize how easy blessings are to come by (compared to the real world).   I can almost hear Gabriel sigh at Zacharias and say “Okay, I guess we’re going to do this the hard way. 

 

  God really wants to bless you.  Jeremiah 29:11-13 says, “For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.  'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  'And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

 

  Encountering God will scare you socks off.  You may be doubtful because you will focus on what you can do, instead of what God can do.  God may have to close your mouth (or limit you) to keep you doing what you should instead of what you want.  He may even take you out of your routine to get you to experience Himself.  Ultimately He requires obedience and He desires to bless you.



 

                                                                                                                                                        Karl J. Forehand

 

 

   Back to Writing archives

 

                                                                                                                                                        Karl J. Forehand