A Place

If we do not have a place to meet God, it is not likely to happen during the course of the day.  Oh, I know God can be encountered on the fly, at any moment, but it is also true that intentionality is an important part of a spiritual life that has the possibility of maturity.  The gospels tell us that Peter, James, and John only had one mountain top experience in which heavenly glory unexpectedly broke in their midst.  The rest of the time is it safe to assume that their lives were mostly ordinary and full of the mundane.

 

While I would never even think of discounting those extraordinary moments of unexpected holy encounter, my own life has been filled with more ordinary days in which I sensed the presence of God than days when His power was so evident that I was knocked off my feet and onto my knees.  Our spiritual life is not built on casual unexpected moments, but on moments in which we intentionally put ourselves in position to experience and know the presence of God. 

 

One of those things which is always necessary is a place set aside for holy encounters.  It may not be a place used exclusively for such moments as our living arrangements may not allow for such luxury, but it needs to be a place where we go when we are reading the Word or entering into a time of prayer with the Father.  More important than it being filled with cushioning is that it is a place that has become for us a place filled with holy expectations.  Even as we go into a sanctuary on Sunday with the expectation of worship, so do we need a place in our home where we go with expectations of being able to draw aside to nurture our soul.