CHRISTIAN WALK
Experience the Presence of God:
Be Alert
By Frank A. DeCenso Jr.
Guest Writer
CBN.com –
1 Kings 19:11-12
11Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain
before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a
great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the
rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the
wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not
in the earthquake; 12and after the earthquake a fire,
but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still
small voice.
Before the events described in this passage, Elijah had witnessed
God send fire from heaven to burn up two bulls in a ‘duel’
with the Baalic prophets14. Now, possibly hiding in
a cave from an adversary, God told Elijah to stand “before
the Lord.” As Elijah did, it appears nature itself reeled
from God’s passing presence: a strong wind tore the mountains
apart, an earthquake occurred, and a fire broke out.
What is relevant for us in this theophanic15 encounter
is that although Elijah, in his prior confrontation with the prophets
of Baal, saw God send fire down from heaven, now in this passage,
God was not “in” any of the terrestrial phenomena
Elijah had just witnessed. The Lord came with a “still small
voice.” There is an immense difference between strong terrestrial
disruptions and a small voice.
Perhaps Elijah needed to learn that theophanic signs and wonders
do not always indicate the intimate presence of God. On an intimate
level, God is more likely to come to us in stillness and quiet.
And since He neither shouts nor always make a grand entrance,
our alertness becomes crucial.
We need to learn how to recognize God’s still, small whispers
to our hearts because those manifestations of His presence are
just as breathtaking as the earthly eruptions caused by God’s
glory. God wants to speak to us intimately—what a remarkable
thing! God can move mountains before us and the spectacle may
only provide an impersonal encounter. But when God speaks to us
in a “still small voice," this reveals how intimately
He wants to commune with us. In fact, it is not fallacious to
say that God wants to speak to us much more often in the context
of intimacy than through the extravaganzas that can cause goose
pimples to erupt on our skin.
What about those in the Old Testament that witnessed God’s
presence daily, in fire by day and a cloud by night?
Exodus 40:34-38
34Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting,
and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35And
Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because
the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the Lord filled
the tabernacle. 36Whenever the cloud was taken up
from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward
in all their journeys. 37But if the cloud was not
taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was
taken up. 38For the cloud of the Lord was above the
tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight
of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.
Imagine someone seeing the presence of God in such awesome splendor.
Imagine their seeing it each day and every night. Is it possible
that such a sight would become common or ordinary to the degree
that it no longer filled the viewers with awe as when they first
saw it? Is it possible that some days they would not even look
to see God’s manifest presence because they’ve seen
it several days in a row? And is it possible that one day, when
they finally looked to see it again, it would be gone? Now what?
God moved on, and because of their complacency of experience,
or their lack of lasting awe, they missed it when He did. Now
what do they do? How will they know where to go?
In the above story, I mixed elements from the factual account
of the Israelites in their desert wanderings, given to us in Exodus
40, with a hypothetical “what-if” scenario. I have
done so hoping to illustrate the following point: if we look for
God’s manifest presence to come to us only in certain extraordinary
ways, we could miss Him when He comes to us in various, perhaps
gentle ways. Although it’s unlikely that the Israelites
would have not noticed when the cloud or fire of God’s presence
moved on, it’s possible that we can miss Him when He comes
to fellowship or talk or lead us in quiet, tender moments.
We need to develop a “vigilant adaptiveness” to His
presence—a holy and humble acknowledgment that God can sovereignly
choose how He speaks to us and leads us. We also need to avoid
becoming routinized in how we expect to experience God’s
presence. When these two criteria are met, we will be less likely
to miss the sweet presence of God when He manifests Himself to
us, in one way or another.
Understanding our acceptance by God because of the blood of
Jesus, being aware of God’s universal and indwelling presence,
actively seeking His manifest presence, and being alert to the
varying unveilings of Himself to us will help us to experience
more of God, more frequently.
14 See 1 Kings 18:20-40
15 Pertaining to a "theophany," a visible manifestation
of God.
Copyright © 2005 by Frank A. DeCenso Jr. All Scripture references
are NKJV unless otherwise noted.
Frank has been teaching the Bible in churches
and other venues for more than 20 years. He is currently the Ministry
Resources Director at Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Virginia
Beach, Va. He is an employee at Regent University in the Information
Technology Department. Frank is married and lives in Virginia
Beach.
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