Tonight, I came across a blog that is written by a lady who goes to the church where I teach preschool (she's a truck driver - which, for some reason, I think is really cool!). I have never met her, but the internet is exciting like that - it lets you get to know people you never would have otherwise. Anyway, her blog entry, HERE, compares the different types of learning to different ways of experiencing God. Everyone learns differently; some people can hear something and remember it right off, some people learn by seeing, and some need to write things down. Experiencing God in one's life is like that. Not everyone is touched by Him in the same way. Jacob had a vision of God and wrestled with Him. Elijah heard a still, small, voice. I experience God every day through my relationships with people that He has put into my path.
Junebug56 told a story on her blog about when she was a teenager and a friend told her about "getting saved." As hard as she prayed, the sixteen-year-old didn't feel a difference in her relationship with God. Then she realized that not everyone will experience that heady rush of feeling that some get when they are in God's presence. She interacts with God in her own way. I love what she says about being in a relationship with Him. "God loves me. He knows me. He does speak to me. In His own way and in mine."
Her story reminded me of a funny tale my cousins told at Thanksgiving last week. When Betsy and Cindy were teenagers, they went to a church event with a Baptist friend of theirs. When they got home, they told their mom that they had been "saved." A devoted Methodist, my aunt said "no, you did NOT get saved! You go back to school and tell those people that you did NOT get saved!" My whole family hooted as my cousins told us the story, but we related to it, too. Of course, my aunt didn't object to her daughters accepting Jesus into their hearts. I think she just objected to the public declaration of being "saved." She knew that our neighbors are not the judges of our salvation; our relationships with Christ are very personal and individual. As for me, I can't name a specific event when I "got saved." I have gradually grown in my relationship with Jesus Christ as I go throughout life, having adventures, making mistakes, and experiencing God's grace every time he forgives me yet again. (I'm so glad Jesus wasn't speaking literally when he said to forgive your neighbor 490 times. I am WAY over that benchmark, and he just keeps on forgiving me!) He speaks to me daily through my jobs, my family and friends, and sometimes through a stranger's blog. Isn't that just awesome of Him?!
