Don't Neglect Emotional Experiences...Only Don't Neglect Truth

I finally get it!

There have been a bunch of times that God just jacks me up when I’m worshiping him (most often at church singing or praying with others). What I mean by “jacks me up” is that I get overjoyed by His goodness, grace, and mercy and can hardly contain myself. It’s like His glory wraps me up in arms of crazy love. I want to jump, scream, holler, laugh, and cry all at the same time. These times make me more conscious of and sensitive to the reality of God and what He’s done. And I think that is exactly the point!

In 1 Kings 8 Solomon brings the arc into the newly finished Temple of God. Once the Priests & Levites bring the Arc of the Covenant into the Holy of Holies, “a cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord” (1 Kings 8:10-11). This happened when all of Israel was present for the Festival of Booths (v. 2). Now, I can only imagine what all of Israel was thinking at this point. Because Israel certainly knew about the tabernacle which the priests and Levites carried with them everywhere they went...and that once all the workings of the tabernacle was completed and set up for the first time, “the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Exodus 40:34-35).

Just imagine that you’re an Israelite, hearing all the stories of God’s mighty power, deliverance, grace, mercy, and everything He’s done for the people before you. You think about what it would’ve been like to cross the Red Sea, fleeing from Egyptian’s whole army. You imagine what the tabernacle looked like when it was filled with the glory of God the first time it was erected. The next thing you know, the very same story you’ve heard about all of your life about the tabernacle being filled with the glory of God, appearing like smoke is happening before your very eyes! “This is exactly what my forefathers spoke of,” you exclaim! Imagine what it would be like to know that the God who saved your forefathers; who said I am the same yesterday, today and forever; who wants to use your nation to reveal His glory to all mankind, IS ABSOLUTELY REAL! That all of the stories you’ve heard of aren’t just “stories,” but actual events in history. That the God who you’ve heard of for so long STILL reveals Himself as the lover of your soul!

These awesome emotional experiences with God are meant to point us toward the truth and reality of God. Those times when we experience God’s overwhelming love, peace, grace, mercy, and forgiveness are meant to further engage in the truth of His reality which we have in the Bible. Peter tells Christians to “supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge! Our faith is not based just on our experiences, but on the knowing the truth! A faith based only off of experience can become extremely dangerous because our experiences are subject to our own interpretation. We may feel great when we take a hit of reefer and assume that God loves it when we smoke pot. Clearly, this is wrong...but we know this only because of God’s Word. You see, God gives us truth (in the Bible) to interpret CORRECTLY our experiences.

Therefore, may you be richly blessed with real experiences of God, filled with joy, grace, and mercy that will drive you further into the truth of God. And may your digging deeper in God’s truth fill you with more real experiences with God.