Years ago, I completed the Bible study "Experiencing God" by Henry and Richard Blackaby and Claude King. I'll always remember coming to an exercise in the book that required the participant to turn to a page provided in the back of the workbook which referenced most, if not all of the names of God found in Scripture. The list was quite extensive. Our assignment was to take time to go through the names and put a check beside each one we had experienced for ourselves. With pen in hand, I began to read and check. Name after name. Check. Check. Check. I was happily going through the list when all of a sudden, I realized something. The question wasn't asking, do I believe these names to be true, or did I know that God was called by this name, but had I experienced Him personally in these ways. It is one thing to believe something is true in our heads, but quite another to know it by personal encounter. It is no longer a principle we have been taught, but now we have participated in the understanding and have learned it to be more than accurate.
The Bible is filled with attributes and characteristics of God. There are verses that describe His comfort during times of sadness, hope in discouragement, joy in tears, peace in conflict, provision in need, refuge in storms, and presence at all times. We are quick to embrace each one, and when life is going well, we have no reason to doubt that they are all true. However, when our theology is tested, we have opportunity to turn a principle we have claimed to trust into a truth we now personally know.
Most often it takes a trial for this exchange to happen. A principle we believe to be accurate in theory meets a situation where we discover whether what we have been taught will actually sustain through the difficulty facing us. Although these fundamental truths have been foundational to our faith, until the rubber hits the road our belief in them has been acceptance without experience.
It was during the Covid pandemic in 2020 that I discovered I was facing my second cancer diagnosis. No one could accompany me to any appointments. The day of my surgery my husband had to just drive up to the hospital and drop me off. I vividly remember getting out of the car and physically reaching my hand out to take the hand of God as I walked in through the revolving doors. The Bible tells me that God is omnipresent, with me everywhere at all times. I desperately needed to know that I was not alone.
His nearness was indescribable that day. In all the waiting, He never left me. His peace that passes understanding filled me; a truth tangibly evidenced in a normal blood pressure reading. As I waited for a dye injection that I had been told horrendous stories about, the Lord was a shield around me and His hand prevented the pain I had been warned would accompany the procedure. Unknown to me, in an incredible gift of grace, the Lord scheduled a sweet friend's medical exam at the same hospital, in the same area, at the same time I was there. I will always remember the joy, the hugs, the tears as we prayed for one another right in that hallway. When neither she or I could bring anyone into the building with us because of the government restrictions, the Lord saw two gals leaning heavily on Him, and He provided such an unspeakable delight, reassuring us both that He indeed was watching over us. Unforgettable!
Theology must become practical. The scriptural principles we claim must result in faith, following (obedience) and fruit. A principle not practiced proves nothing. Affirming truth must be accompanied with application of that truth. We can know, love, recite and acknowledge Biblical insights and wisdom as indisputable, but when those precepts come alive by personal experience our relationship with the Lord is forever changed.
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