Published: May 02, 2008 01:31 pm            

What gets you connected?

What helps you feel a sense of connectedness to God- seeing an incredible sunrise or sunset, closing your eyes, praying, being on your knees when you pray, raising your hands in the air, singing hymns, singing praise and worship music, being alone, being with others, reading Scripture, reviewing scripture previously committed to memory, a deep breath, the gentle touch of a friend, a past memory, a favorite picture of Jesus?

Each of the above is a practical example of practicing the presence of God. He is already here and present, you are just tuning in.

He loves us so deeply, and wants us to experience Him on a regular basis at the same level of depth and richness that oftentimes we reflect back on as “that neat time I really experienced God.”

We are all different. And if we will take the time to reflect, we will remember what it was that helped us sense God in a genuine and meaningful way. If we want to have that experience on a regular basis, then we will begin to practice on a regular basis what works for us.

When you experience God in meaningful ways on a regular basis, others will notice and ask you about it. What will you tell them?

A seminary professor had a class of fifteen students who were preparing for Christian ministry. At the beginning of one of his classes, he distributed envelopes to the students with sealed instructions.

Five students received instructions to proceed across the campus without delay. The directions read, “You have 15 minutes to reach your destination. You have no time to spare. Don’t loiter or do anything else, or your grade will be docked.”

The next five students also received instructions to make their way across the campus, but they were given 45 minutes to do so. “You have plenty of time,” their directions read, “but don’t be too slow.”

The last five students received instructions to get to the other side of campus anytime before five o’clock, giving them about five hours to complete the assignment.

What the students didn’t know was that the professor had arranged for several drama majors from a nearby university to position themselves along the path that led across campus. The drama students were instructed to act as though they were suffering and in great need.

One pretended to be homeless, in need of food and clothing. Another sat with his head in his hands, crying as if he had just experienced a terrible tragedy. Still another acted as if he were in desperate need of medical care.

You can imagine what happened as the Christian ministry students tried to complete their assignments. None of the students in the first group stopped to offer any help to the “needy people.”

Only two students in the second group did. But all five students in the third group took time to stop and help.

Sometimes we are too busy to experience the purposeful and meaningful life God intends for us. We may be doing many “good” things, but not the things that make us feel the active and intimate presence of God.

Find out what works for you.

        

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