The past month has been kind of tough, but I'm getting back on track now. Among the bits and pieces of new lessons in progress, I want to share about a change in my attitude towards experiencing God at church - which some of you may relate to if you can read til the end!
Prelude: Something Beautiful
During a recent flight, I flew over the Atlantic Ocean during the middle of the night. Having given up on sleeping, I thought I'd open the shades and see what's out there.
What greeted me was hundreds and hundreds of stars, just hanging outside my window, shining bright in the dark of the night. It was like one of those IMAX space documentaries, and I was taken aback by the vastness and beauty of it all. Without any light pollution, you could see so many stars so very clearly. Needless to say, I spent a good while staring at them and even saw a shooting star :)
The night sky grew lighter and lighter near the horizon as the plane headed into day break. As the sky gradually brightened, the stars disappeared one by one and hid behind the rays of light.
It was at this time that I recalled something a preacher had once said... something along the lines of:
Can you see the stars during the night?
- Yes.
What about during the day?
- No.
But are they still there during the day?
- Of course!
Sometimes the grace and presence of God is like the stars. At some points in our life, we can't see the stars or feel God's grace and presence, but that doesn't mean He's not there. He is still there, patiently watching over us, quietly loving us, and faithfully abiding with us through all the days & nights.
Where is God?
The reason I began with that story is that, sometimes, we fail to see God at church.
Sometimes, we don't really feel spiritually nourished or encouraged by the sermons, or find/experience God in particular at church. Going to church becomes more of a duty to God and a habit, because we don't seem to get as much value from the time spent listening to the sermons. When we go to church, we only see people. And as those of us who grew up in the church are aware, since every local church has their issues/imperfections, sometimes the people & problems we do see discourage us even more from wanting to come. So because of all this, we feel cool-hearted or even negative towards church at times. We wonder: is God even here? Why isn't He doing anything? Where is He?
An Epiphany
During one Friday night, I woke up around 4am and couldn't fall back asleep. So in the stillness of the night, God made me think about a question: what does your ideal church look like?
I’d always imagined church to be a place of love, power, and spiritual nourishment. My ideal church would be a place filled with love, with people who share the same zeal to draw close to God and pursue His will, for people to encourage one another in the Lord, be close to each other and share their joys/sorrow together. A place where God fully manifests His powers and glory, where His Holy Spirit fills and empowers all of us, enlightens all of us, and leads us to win spiritual battles and souls. Where the hungry could be filled, the poor in spirit comforted, and those who are battered– receive peace, love, and inner strength from the Lord.
As I described it, I realized it was sounding a lot like spiritual seminars... This is what we can achieve when we come together as one, with the determination to draw close to God; we we can fully entrench ourselves in the enjoyment of the pouring of His Spirit and grace upon us.
Then the epiphany hit: hey, some of these things I described are indeed present at church.
We should not overly focus on what's lacking, and let the negativity cover up the goodness that does exist. Instead, we should work on magnifying/expanding this goodness. Rather than accepting defeat or holding an indifferent attitude towards church, clinging onto how you were hurt, or sitting on the side and shaking your head/pointing fingers at all the things are going wrong - we should start caring and seeing what we can do to help our church improve. Caring and seeing what we can do to help our church gets us excited and involved in the work of God. If not, the result will either be us leaving the church, or us staying and causing division within.
We should not overly focus on what's lacking, and let the negativity cover up the goodness that does exist. Instead, we should work on magnifying/expanding this goodness. Rather than accepting defeat or holding an indifferent attitude towards church, clinging onto how you were hurt, or sitting on the side and shaking your head/pointing fingers at all the things are going wrong - we should start caring and seeing what we can do to help our church improve. Caring and seeing what we can do to help our church gets us excited and involved in the work of God. If not, the result will either be us leaving the church, or us staying and causing division within.
My Name, My Eyes, and My Heart
But just because we don't see God at church, it doesn't mean that He isn't there or that He's not working. We just don't know everything and can't see how God works & touches all his children in different ways. Sometimes, the problem is ourselves.
The Lord said to Solomon after he dedicated the temple:
"For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually." (2 Chr 7:16)
This verse tells us that God has placed, right here at church, His name (which carries power and protects us - John 17:12), His eyes (which sees all things, including all that takes place at church and beyond), and His heart (which loves and longs after every single one of us). He is there to draw close to us. But the question is, do we truly realize that, value that, and reciprocate that when we go to church?
During this morning's bible study, we talked about how faith without deeds is dead (Jas 2:17), and how we need both faith and deeds to work together in perfection. So while faith without deeds is dead, deeds without faith is also dead.
The physical act of going to church, without a true heart of worship or acknowledgement of God's presence there, does not allow our spirit to rest, grow, and connect with God. It's easy to forget that God is really with us at church when we don't physically see Him, but we must remember that what makes church different from a social place of gathering, is that His name, His eyes, and His heart are there. God is there.
The physical act of going to church, without a true heart of worship or acknowledgement of God's presence there, does not allow our spirit to rest, grow, and connect with God. It's easy to forget that God is really with us at church when we don't physically see Him, but we must remember that what makes church different from a social place of gathering, is that His name, His eyes, and His heart are there. God is there.
Takeaway: Prepare Your Heart for God
The key point is preparing your heart for worship. Part of why I didn't feel fulfilled or nourished was because I didn't properly prepare my heart for sabbatical worship. I didn't truly stop, rest, and seek God. If we seriously listen with a heart of humility & good soil, God willingly speaks to us and will personally nurture us.
Our heart & attitude determines how much we gain from each Sabbath, service, prayer, and act of worship. God has promised that when we seek Him, we will find Him, when we seek with all our heart (Jer 29:13).
So let's put everything away, quieten our hearts, and try to truly listen with all our heart today. Because only when we do that, are we truly prepared to experience His presence :)
