When do you feel closest to God?
This is a question we should not only ask ourselves, but it is a topic that would be beneficial to discuss in a group. I am sure the experiences shared would be strengthening and uplifting, even though there will be many different answers to the question. The testimonies borne would be based upon our own personal experiences and relationship with our God.
So, when do you feel closest to God?
I know of many people who would answer by saying, “When I am singing praises to God. It is when I am singing that I feel uplifted and can express my true feelings through the words of the song.” Others would say, “When I am meditating and listening to calming music.” Or, another answer might be, “When I am praying, my prayers flow with praise and thanksgiving to my God.”
Others feel closest to God when they are in the outdoors amongst God’s creation and absorbing the beauty around them. They may be walking in a beautiful garden, or in the bush, or along a beach and witnessing the power of the crashing waves.
Even others would say they felt closest to God when they were giving ministry through words of encouragement and support to someone in need or testifying and affirming to others of God’s blessings in their lives. I am sure musicians would testify that they feel closest to God, when playing the organ or some other instrument and providing worshipful music to the congregation. There would be others who would say, “When I am sharing the gospel whether through preaching, teaching or writing.”
A further area of feeling the presence of God is when we are spending quality time in meditation and reflection, either through reading the Scriptures or a book in which the author has captured our souls in the message written. When I have entered a great cathedral and reflected upon the presence of God in that building and how God’s Spirit has touched the lives of thousands of people over many centuries, I sense God in the splendor of that moment.
I have heard parents of a newborn baby say that they truly felt closest to God when they saw their baby for the first time. I have also heard many testimonies born by people feeling God’s presence when they have received a blessing of healing from God.
There are so many more examples I could give. I have learnt that when we develop sensitivity to God’s presence, we soon begin to see His work everywhere. The apostle Paul told the church at Philippi, “The Lord is near” (Philippians 4:5). And Jesus gave this promise to his disciples, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end.”
From my own personal experience, God’s Spirit usually fills our hearts in gentle ways. We must intentionally keep a sanctuary for Him, for many things would encroach upon His home in us. Our sense of His manifest presence, our ability to hear His thoughts, our awareness of His direction – all can be lost if we do not safeguard a place for Him in our hearts.
The poet Cleland McAfee wrote, “There is a place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God. A place where sin cannot molest, near to the heart of God. There is a place of comfort sweet, near to the heart of God, a place where we our Saviour meet, near to the heart of God.”
But should we be only expecting God to be close to us just on special occasions? Brother Lawrence, a cook in a seventeenth-century French monastery, gave the world a phrase that well describes a deep relationship that we can have with our God. He suggested in his writings - “the practice of the presence of God.” As this humble monk washed dishes and served food to his brothers, he communed with God, and the glow of God’s presence gave his menial kitchen duties richness and significance.
The discipline of practicing the presence of God can gradually make us aware of God’s continual closeness in our lives. We can learn that in our car, while we are at work, while gardening, while helping somebody out, while lying in bed at night, any time, anywhere, under any circumstances we can commune meaningfully with our God.
And Jesus offers this final invitation to us in Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Bill Gillard