A Divine Encounter

(Guest Post written by my awesome wife who I think is a better writer than I will ever be! Good job Erin!)

It’s been a while since I’ve written about what’s on my mind, because nothing has really come to me. So, I have waited until I had an encounter. Okay, I know that sounds creepy, like I encountered an alien or a disease, but that’s not what I’m talking about at all. I had a different kind of encounter yesterday – a divine encounter. It was amazing. It was something that has never happened to me before. So, let me explain.

I’ve still been doing my devotion pretty much every morning. I guess you could say I do it “religiously.” I was reading a passage in Luke. The key verse was Luke 1:45, “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.” So I read that verse and decided to get the context of the verse. It was Elizabeth (who bore John the baptizer) speaking to Mary (who bore Jesus the Christ). When Mary spoke to Elizabeth, John the Baptist kicked in her womb. This made Elizabeth proclaim, “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment…”

Well, in my devotional the author asks, “Has the Lord spoke to you about anything?” When I read that I realized “No, God hasn’t spoken to me.” I haven’t had one of those encounters. I have never allowed God to speak to my heart. So, I started to feel bummed out – like I just am not a true believer, I guess.

So, I continued in my journal. My devotional always starts out my prayers for me and then I finish it. The first paragraph started with “Father God, help me to believe you about… “and I finished with

“your promises.” I wanted God to speak to me like He has spoken to so many other Christians. As I’m writing this I feel even more saddened. I just wanted to hear God speak to me. I guess so that I could feel like I really have a relationship with God. I just wanted Him to clarify this. So, I continued to the next paragraph where the author started the second part of my prayer, “Would you confirm Your will to me through Your word?” Well I just started pouring my heart out – asking God to just at least speak to me through His word. I know His word is applicable, but I just want it to touch a part in my heart that feels like He is actually conversing with me. I continue to write these things, feeling more and more sad, until I get to the finishing point where I begin to write, “Did you turn your back on me?” I start to feel like He gave up on me because of my sin and selfishness, but the amazing encounter happened just as I wrote those words. It was like God was stopping me in mid-question – God was interrupting me! It’s kind of humorous now! Just like that, God gave me this: He said, “I will never leave you or forsake you. I will come to you.” Now before you start thinking I’m crazy let me clarify. He spoke to me through His word – in a still small voice. This verse, which I had never really meditated on before – Hebrews 13:5 – was brought to my mind. The “I will come to you” part was different. I know it’s somewhere in the Bible, but I’m not real sure where. It was so perfect. It was like God just said “stop the pity party, I’m right here!” It truly was amazing. It reminds me of when I was at the Spurs game a few months ago and they were shooting T-shirts up in the nose-bleed section. I looked at John and said, “I never catch a shirt, I’m so unlucky.” And right when I said that a shirt literally fell right in my lap. That’s how this encounter was – purely a slap in the face.

Well, let me just finish up with telling you what I wrote in the next paragraph of my journal. The author began it (strangely enough) with saying, “I think I heard you say…” And without even a pause, I wrote “I will never leave you or forsake you. I will come to you.” I know God didn’t turn His back on me. He still hears me and He speaks to me. I just started to feel a little distressed about never having one of those cool encounters you always hear about.

I will say that just as soon as I wrote down what I heard God say a little voice entered along with it and said, “Are you sure that was God speaking to you?” and then I remembered what John (my husband –not the baptizer) has been talking about. Spiritual warfare. Satan began to make me doubt, but I can’t let him. I have to remember God’s wonderful promise, “I will never leave you or forsake you. I will come to you.”

I know this sounds crazy, but when it happens to you next, you will definitely understand that this is something you have to share with others. God spoke to me! It was the most amazing feeling accompanied with a swarm of emotions that are so hard to understand or to convey to you. What I did learn is to not take God for granted. He is alive and He is moving in lives! So awesome!

Erin Lea