Chasing What ???

Chasing What?

As you may know, my wife and I recently spent a week holidaying with friends in another part of the country. We chose this particular area because it is also home to a quite well known Christian retreat centre where God has moved. That the area is also one of outstanding natural beauty is a great big bonus.

Whilst there we visited the local, but internationally known, Christian retreat centre. We went because we know the people there by reputation and as one part of their prayer outreach. Quite a few of our church folk have visited and nearly all of them spoke highly of their experiences. It was, we were assured, “the place to go to seek God and to experience His presence in some intimacy”. My personal experience there has left me with some questions.

It is a place of incredible peace and quiet where one can spend much or little time seeking God; basking in His presence; and receiving both from God and the fellow seekers around you. However, for me, it was a place of simple relaxation. I actually got more from our long coastal path walks than from any time spent at the retreat. Even time spent sitting at the base of their cross did little or nothing to move me. 

Eventually, I spent some time in the chapel where I ended up on my face just worshiping Him and seeking His face. That’s when I got a wee surprise. It was as though the Lord opened the door, stuck His head round it, saw me, and exclaimed, “What are you doing here Chris?” It was an Elijah moment straight out of 1 Kings 19:9&13 when Elijah had hidden in the cave. Good question – what was I doing there? Was I really seeking the Lord? Was I really hoping to hear from Him once more?

As if to answer my question, the Lord said this, “You didn’t need to come here to seek Me. Yes – I am here but am I not omnipresent – everywhere? Can you not find me in your room? In your car? At home? In the supermarket? Anywhere you want to? There is nowhere you can go to hide from Me nor is there anywhere that you cannot find Me!” He went on, “I am here for many people but you did not need to come here to seek Me. You know My voice and you can just as easily find Me and hear Me anywhere you go. ‘Anywhere you plant your foot’ is My land where I can be found.” The Lord finished up with this, “Enjoy My presence here and I will enjoy yours while you are here. I will speak further into your life another time, another place, another day”.

Our friends who went with us met with God in the place, but in a very different way to me. They got much from their visit. My wife had a similar experience to me. She too felt she could meet and hear from God almost anywhere. I am reminded of Jesus words about John – “As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind?” Matthew 11:7 

What did I expect from this place – or any other place for that matter? Was I chasing the experience? Or was I chasing God? If I am totally honest, I suspect I was looking for more of the experience than of the Person and I suspect I am very much not alone on that quest. I suspect we all chase the thrill more than the encounter because we associate the goose bumps, quite wrongly, with the Person. I was suitably chastened by my encounter, so now I am seeking His face before anything else.

It never hurts us to ask why before we leap for the place or the person before we leap for the Person. God knows our heart – we can’t fool Him with our pretence. Why try??