I had just turned 15 years old and my grandfather had invited my younger brother and I to stay with him for the summer. My grandpa (and nearly ALL of our other relatives) lived in western Pennsylvania. We rarely had opportunities to see our relatives, much less spend an entire summer there. And, for two kids from Columbia, South Carolina, who didn't get to travel much, this was our chance to get away from the unbearably hot and boring time we'd come to know as summertime in Columbia. My dad came and set the proposition in front of us: in order to stay with Grandpa for the summer, we would have to agree to attend a summer church camp for a week. Our eyes rolled back in our teenage heads. Was my grandpa trying to trick us into going to summer church camp? Whatever the case, my brother, Nik, and I talked it out and decided that it was a small price to pay if it meant getting out of Columbia for another sweltering and uneventful summer. After all, the camp was only for seven days. We could do anything for seven days!
Nik and I arrived at this small church camp with small expectations. With only one week to endure, we were eager to get it over with. But, as the week progressed, something started to happen that I didn't think was possible- I started to have fun. And, Nik did, too. It was such a surprise to each of us. I remember us telling each other that very thing, "this isn't so bad."
Furthermore, something very signficant was occuring that week that was stirring my heart deeply. Each night, there was a "service" that all the campers attended. It consisted of a time of worship and some speaking. And, every night during this worship time, as the small band played their acoustic guitars and the campers were singing words from an overhead projector, I would close my eyes and I could feel something. As I mouthed the words to the songs and thought about the Lord, I could feel Him. It was unlike anything else I had ever experienced or felt. There were scattered moments throughout my life when I knew I was experiencing God. But, this was different. It was as if all I had to do was close my eyes and think about Him, and it was as if He was standing right next to me in person.
How do you describe the presence of God to someone who's never experienced it? It surpasses those moments of extreme emotions, drug-induced highs, or times of feeling comfort. Being around Him is like feeling all of these things at once, but even better, and without negative side effects or hangovers. Most of all, what I felt was "loved." Everything that had been on my mind and conscience until that moment suddenly seemed insignificant and distant. I didn't feel worry or fear, rejection or pain. I felt an all-consuming, unconditional, comforting, real, totally surrounding love. God was there with me and I was experiencing Him. Being in His presence felt like everything inside of me was being hugged- my mind, my thoughts, my emotions, and, most of all, my heart.
Up until that time in my life, I had continually told God that I wanted to experience Him, to really know Him. Many people know stories, anecdotes, and even attributes of God, but how many people really know Him? I didn't want to just hear another Bible story, or imagine how He was in my mind. I wanted to experience Him for myself. Many can describe God from things they've read or heard, but how many describe Him from the position of having been with Him?
There was a time described in the Bible, in the book of Luke, after Jesus was resurrected. He met some friends walking along the road who didn't recognize him by his appearance. He started to talk to them, tell them stories, and explain scriptures to them. Even though they didn't realize who he was, they were drawn to him, and begged him to continue to walk with them.
"As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"
Although they did not recognize him, their hearts "burned within them" as they were talking with him.
That night, standing in that meeting room at the summer camp, my heart was "burning within me." I knew that God was right there with me and I was experiencing him. And, I longed for more.
We all want to be loved, to experience love. To be loved fully, unconditionally, and without limit. He has always loved me, but that night, I experienced it.
The Message Bible puts it this way. In Jeremiah 31, it says,
"God told them, "I've never quit loving you and never will.
Expect love, love, and more love!"Or, "I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love.
With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself."
We were created for love. Not just to hear about it or wish for it, but to have it, to experience it.
Jesus, the very embodiment of love, wants you to experience his love. He wants to show you His love. He wants you to feel it, to know it, to be fully convinced of it and forever changed by it.
