The Hype

Reader,

It sure has been a while and I apologize. The way this last couple of months has gone you would understand my lack of attention if you understood the events that have taken place. One of which was a retreat for our students. It was 40 hours of crazy students living life to the fullest and experiencing God in a new way. It was truly remarkable.

I wanted to take a minute and talk about experiencing God and knowing God. There is always a hype that comes out of something like a retreat or a camp or any experience that helps you feel closer to God. This hype is one of the most life-changing things I have ever experienced. The hype is like adrenaline mixed with a pure solution of epinephrine. It is intoxicating, luring and addicting. It can be so addicting that we chase after the experience more than the One we are experiencing. So let me be honest with you, experiences will fade away. The hype dies down, normality and mediocrity surround you and the feeling you are feeling in that moment will begin to fade and simmer with life until the next experience. So how do you keep moving forward with your world when the hype has died out?

The beautiful part about the God that I serve is that He never changes. He is constant. He is the North Star. He is constantly moving the heart as well. The hard part is that when you are feeling the experiences and the hype, there is something that you can place your thumb on and measure. When you are experiencing God however, even leaps and bounds can seem drudging and frustrating (probably because leaps and bounds to us is like an inch or step to God). One thing that I have always done to make sure that I am pursuing God, and not an experience, is I have always looked for ways to become a more devout disciple of Jesus.

You need to begin to take some time building a relationship with God. You do that by setting aside time in your schedule to get to know Him. There is no better way to do so than to start reading your Bible. Many men wrote the text over a number of years and give eye-witness or not so far removed witness accounts of the things they have seen and heard. Start reading in John. Then move to Proverbs, then to Acts, and then to Romans. Start reading.

The second thing you should be doing is taking time to understand who the God is that we serve. Without getting too far into it, God does not owe us anything. Not an explanation, not riches, not blessings, nothing. He owes us no answers, or reasoning. So if you find yourself starting to reason with God; just stop. There is also no need to justify God. He does not need your help. He does however, desire your heart.

I will end with this: God takes full responsibility for a life wholly devoted to Him. So what are you waiting for? A feeling? Stop searching for feelings, but when the hype comes, let it catapult you into a fervent search for God’s heart.
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Food for thought: Have you been searching for God or a feeling? Do you find yourself looking more for the experience than the one you are experiencing? How is that going?