The God of Experiences

Congratulations to my dad, that it's his birthday! Te quiero mucho, even though you're far!

Meanwhile, let's go to the Word...
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The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. (1 Kings 19: 11-13)

Here is Paul. He was thrown to the floor by God and God Himself on a split-second. Job lost everything he had, tested and trialed, to receive double at the end. Abraham had experiences that only the faith and grace of God could've given to him to do. Jesus became the Ultimate Experience for the world, dying on Calvary's cross. This, my friend, is the trail of... experience.
I use this verse as a reference to something I will explain. What?

As a Christian, namely a Pentecostal -I've confirmed this many times-, you (somewhat) get used to the craziness that can be a normal service. As pragmatic as that sentence may look like, I’ve also been hammered constantly with the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the tithing and the constant seeking for an experience to change one’s life.

But what is, that experience? A near-life death situation? A strange Pentecostal infilling experience? Dancing around and around? A shattering, breaking, surrendering portion of your life? Maybe, maybe, maybe, and… maybe.

God can be experienced by these out-of-the-top ways. But God can be also experienced… around the earth. In nature, in family, in the smiles of the children, in treating the elderly, in reaching a goal, in going to school, in church, while working, on TV (depending what you’re seeing), in prayer, in worship…

God doesn’t need to work twice, but He does that because He loves us. Something we can’t comprehend is, how does a God we don’t see show Himself like that to some? This is held up as a standard that shouldn’t be in. Devout Christians have spent many a lifetime without a strong-holding experience, and they have served Him to the fullest. God loves to give us those experiences, but He also moves in the quietness of the rushing life.

Let God be manifest in your life. Let His experiences –be it big or small- ponder over His goodness and powerfulness.