Be the One God Seeks

One evening while we were on vacation, I took my Bible to a quiet spot where I could read, meditate, and watch the sun set behind the mountains. That evening God arranged a most spectacular sunset. Brilliant pink rays outlined the rolling clouds. I sat in awe and read Psalm 104, "O Lord my God, you are very great....He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind." I was overwhelmed with His majesty as I thought on His Word and His chariots.

"Oh, God," I thought, "it would be so neat if You would give me some signal in the clouds in response to my worship of You." Immediately a tiny thread of lightning streaked from the top to the bottom of the cloud in front of me. There was no thunder and no more lightning--just that one white streak assuring me that He accepted my worship. I was humbled.

When God says for us to be still and know that He is God, He invites us to reflect upon what He has told us about Himself. I like to use David's words in 1 Chronicles 29: "Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all."

Worship is a rich experience when I spend time considering what each of the words and phrases in those verses mean.

God invites us to "Come into his presence with singing" (Psalm 100:2), so we open our hymnal to such songs as "O Worship the King" or "Great Is Thy Faithfulness." 

God's Spirit can be a more certain assurance of His presence than even a tiny streak of lightning.

"True worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks" (Jn. 4:23).