Tuesday, February 11th, 2025
The last few weeks the word “encounter” has been rising up in my spirit. I have been asking God if I could encounter Him like I never have before. I’m ready for more; I need more of Him. It really feels like I have reached a place of desperation. I know the only way I am going to move forward is if I encounter more of Him. Let’s look at that word encounter. Webster’s 1828 defines it as to meet face to face; particularly to meet suddenly or unexpectedly. God keeps bringing me back to Exodus 3:2-5:
2 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” 4 So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”
That’s a suddenly. That’s the kind of encounter I desire. One that evidences the power of God, finalizes my commitment to Him (v.4: “Here I am”) and establishes my path forward. The part where Moses had to take off his sandals is important. Moses was on holy ground and there could be nothing between God and him. That’s the part I have not yet arrived at. In my last blog I shared about the clutter in my closets that God is exposing and dealing with. We want the mountain top highs with God, but we don’t always realize that there is some work we have to do first to get there.
I use that word “work” carefully. For those of us who used to get our self-worth from striving we have to make sure we don’t trust in our own work ethic or determination to accomplish this great work. Philippians 1:6 says that He who began a good work in us will complete it. He started it and He will finish it. If it’s about us doing the work and trying to make ourselves whole, then it becomes a matter of works instead of faith.
Final Thoughts…
Interestingly enough this place where Moses saw God in the burning bush is the same place where the Israelites later made a golden calf after they got sick of waiting for Moses to come down from the mountain. You see, the Israelites didn’t recognize how holy the ground was. They didn’t take their shoes off, and it cost many of them their lives. As much as I am desperate for an encounter with God, I want to make sure it is on God’s perfect timing. When the heaven realm is split wide open, I want to be drawn closer to God, not be separated from Him.