Meeting with God
Meeting with God (1)
Last week we were speaking about “the life of surrender,” and about “meeting with God”… and tonight we want to continue speaking about “meeting with God”…
In a person’s spiritual life, one must meet God, must know Him and live with Him… and must see Him.
Many pray and fast and read, but without a relationship with God… they have never felt that they met Him, nor sensed that they entered into the heart of God, nor that God has entered their hearts… no touch or vision… It is the feeling of a person that he is far from God, and God is far from him, feeling that he is in one valley and God in another… feeling that when he prays there are miles and veils and barriers between him and God… no meeting. Such a person lives tired in his spiritual life, because he has not yet met God, nor tested Him, nor lived with Him.
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And there are those who lived their lives with God as Scripture said about Enoch: “And Enoch walked with the Lord…”
And like Abraham who was called the Friend of God, meaning God’s companion. And there are those who met God at a certain time, like Moses the prophet, who was walking ordinarily and in a moment he did not know, God called him from the burning bush and said to him: “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Take off your shoes from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”
Also like Saul of Tarsus, whom God met on the road and said to him: “Saul, why do you persecute Me?”
And like Zacchaeus, whom God also met and said to him: “Make haste and come down”… and other meetings with the Samaritan woman and Nicodemus.
Thus many met the Lord and lived with Him. And many, their whole life is empty of God and they have not yet known Him.
But does this mean that God did not pass by them on the road and did not meet them? Or are their senses not trained to see God?
Consider the Scripture that says: “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so some have entertained angels without knowing it.”
In the story of Sodom, two angels passed through Sodom and the people of Sodom did not sense them… And during the time of Christ on earth, John says: “There stands One among you whom you do not know”… He was present, yet they did not sense Him nor know Him.
** Many meetings happen in a person’s life, and he does not sense or feel them because his senses are not trained in the divine things, so he does not perceive them.
Therefore many visits of grace come to a person— the Spirit of God visits him at certain times, and he does not sense or feel it, and it departs without him knowing.
A person must be alert to these meetings… And in meeting God, you must feel that He has entered your life, you must touch His working hand with you, and you must have this awareness.
Sometimes we do not feel this, because our human mind often interprets matters with worldly explanations… meaning that God may have come into your life and done a work which you explain by an ordinary explanation that prevents you from sensing God’s presence with you.
There is a person who searches for the presence of God in his life and feels how God’s hand works in every way, so he becomes very joyful and says: “Lord, I am happy with You… I feel that You are present in my life and that You care for me… I trace, O Lord, Your footsteps on this path.”
Another person— God works with him often, yet he does not sense or see Him… his eyes are closed…
Scripture says: “My Beloved turned away and passed by; I sought Him but I did not find Him.” I want you to train yourselves to sense the presence of God. Try to discern God’s hand in your life… touch God’s hand in events and news, and in all that happens to you and to others… contemplate God in His work in the universe and how He operates… Do not interpret everything with a worldly interpretation, but interpret it with a divine interpretation, and then you can meet God and feel Him.
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God’s work in the world is something beyond doubt… and likewise God’s work in your life is a truth beyond doubt, whether you perceive it or not.
God is working in your life… but it remains for you to sense and touch. And the more you sense God’s work in you and for your sake, the more your love for God increases and your attachment to Him grows.
Many sense God’s hand in trials and tribulations, seeing how God descends and works… Elisha perhaps did not see the divine hosts— and whether he saw them or not, they were working, and he was joyful because God’s hand was working, until he prayed and said: “Open his eyes, Lord, that he may see.”
The truth is that there are those who have eyes but do not see!… Many angels surround us but we do not see… and at least, if we do not see them materially, we must see their work in action… And if you do not see with the heart or with perception, then without doubt you will live deprived of divine consolation.
** And let us return to say that a person ought to meet with God… And if he meets Him, he lives happy and possesses consolation in his heart…
But how does a person meet God?
The world— truly— is distracted from God… Believe me, if God passed in front of you perhaps you would not recognize Him… the world is too busy to see God or seek Him! In the mind of the world and its senses there are a thousand subjects, and no time to seek God!
If you want to meet God, free yourself for God… give Him from your heart and from your time… give Him from your mind and contemplate Him and live with Him… live with Him in heart… in life… and then you will touch God’s hand.
And if God says, “I have stretched out My hands all day long to a disobedient people”… then how much more to those who seek Him?
I want you, brothers, to meet God, and to taste Him. The psalm says: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”
I want you to know God… and you will be happy with His companionship if you experience Him… Have you experienced God and tasted Him?
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You sometimes pray, but your prayer is far from God… it is nothing more than words, and therefore you do not feel connection, nor that He is before you and you speak to Him, and that He heard you and responded and answered you… What have you gained from your prayer? You are like a person shouting in a deep valley with no one replying, and his words return to him as echoes… his voice returns to him… and he asks: Whom am I speaking to? I do not know…
Pray and resolve that you must meet God in this prayer in any way, and say: I will not leave You; I will remain standing until You answer me… until I touch You and feel You in my heart and senses… feel Your consolations delighting my soul… I seek You and see You.
There is a person who feels bored in prayer… he has not touched God because he has no patience or long-suffering for the coming of God…
Meeting with God requires an open heart and waiting and patience… and anticipating God until He comes… and He must come even if in the fourth watch.
Try to have a relationship with God saying… It is not reasonable that You come to the whole earth and I do not see You… I must see You, and You must enter my life and I enter into You, just as John the beloved said: “That which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled…” I must have this relationship.
And if you do not have this relationship with God, your life becomes dry and difficult.
We all enter church and attend the liturgy… but who among us touches God and sees Him in the church and the liturgy?
** And to meet God, we need a loving heart and a simple conscience… a loving heart, because love is the strong bond that ties a person to God. And I mean by a loving heart not the heart that loves Paradise or the Kingdom, but the heart that loves God Himself.
Sometimes we take God as a means to reach our goal… God in this case is not the goal; He is a means that leads me to spiritual happiness and holiness, and I do not mean God Himself.
Some pray to ask God for things— meaning God is a means to reach requests… If only the one who prays would say: “Lord, I want You Yourself… I want no request… You are my only desire… I do not pray in order to become a saint, but so that I may live in You and You live in me… I sense You and enjoy You… You are my aim, and I speak to You to enjoy You and I want nothing else— neither earth nor heaven…”
This is the person who truly wants to meet God… And afterward God reveals Himself… Beware of taking God as a means to your goals, as if He were an executive device to fulfill your aims and requests… Try to ask God Himself… say to Him: “Your face, Lord, I seek… Do not hide Your face from me… I want You.”
If you reach the love in which you desire God Himself, then surely you will meet God… but if you sit with God for a purpose, this will not bring you to Him.
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God is gentle and good… He answers your requests and prayers and you rejoice, but you have not taken God… you want and He gives. But wanting God Himself is another matter.
Who among you prays to ask for God Himself and nothing else? You pray to become a saint— therefore you want holiness… and perhaps holiness and purity bring you to God, but holiness and purity remain only a means.
The one who seeks holiness is seeking a means. The only goal must be God Himself, and then you say: “I want You… I want Your companionship and Your friendship, and to remain with You, and I want nothing else…” even if this is considered unusual… David says in Psalm 73: “I was as a beast before You. Nevertheless I am continually with You.” … I care to be with You in any form, as David walked with God… “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for You are with me”… I feel You, and You are entering into my life, and You have prepared a table before me… You lead me to green pastures and waters… and I feel Your presence in my life.
** I want you, brothers, to seek God Himself… Your requests from God are many, but you do not seek God… seek God and think of Him and live with Him.
But will God come to you while you do not want Him? He does not intrude upon the heart of one who does not want Him… He comes when you say: I want You… when you say: I want You… then God gives you Himself.
Befriend, accompany, and experience God… sit with God, and let your life be with Him.
Do not be occupied too much with anything other than God… try to be occupied much with God… How many times have you spoken about Him and relied on Him? How many times have you used God in your life and your discussions?
To reach God and see Him… make God for you everything.
Make God your goal… make your love, your concerns, your hope, and your whole being… but do not make Him a means to your objectives.
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To live with God, be very honest with Him— open your whole heart and tell Him everything in you, all your weaknesses and shortcomings, and say: “Come dwell in me and live with me… come work in this heart.”
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Try to speak to everyone about God…
We often speak about virtue, not about God. We speak to them about the way of God but not about God Himself. We speak to them about God’s words and commandments but do not speak to them about God Himself.
Many times we circle around God without entering into Him nor allowing Him to enter into us… God for us has no place to lay His head, for we have not yet entered into the depth concerning Him to know Him and perceive Him and contemplate Him. -
Mary and Martha had a great difference between them: Mary sought Christ Himself, sat with Him, looked at Him, and rejoiced in Him… But Martha was occupied with many things, and she could not enjoy Christ as Mary enjoyed Him.
Have you sat with Him as Mary did and left your many distractions?
There is someone who works much in service, yet does not reach God…
I once spoke and said: Suppose you went to guide a sinful person… you ask yourself: Where am I going? If you say you are going to solve this sinner’s problem, then you are occupied with the sinner and his problem.
If another answers saying he is occupied with God, and wants to find a place for God in the heart of this sinner, then the concern here is God. He is searching for a place for our Lord in the soul of this sinner, wanting to bring him to God. The concern here is God, not the person.
Believe me, even the holiest people speak about good but not about God… they speak about virtue, not about God… about the ways of God, not about God the Owner of the way. As a spiritual writer once said to a weary servant in the church:
“You spent your life for the house of the Lord— when will you seek the Lord of the house?”
Most people are occupied with the church of God, not the God of this church. They say “the church of our Lord”— but better to say “the Lord of the church.” -
God’s word must not be for you a theory… enter into the depths of God so that you may know Him and feel Him.
Consider the story of the elder prodigal son, not the younger… he was serving in his father’s house: “I have served you these many years, and you never gave me a kid to rejoice with my friends.”
He had no relationship with his father. He was concerned with the fields of the father, not the father. He was occupied with the works related to the house of this father, not the father of the house!
We work… but where is God? We have not yet seen Him…
People speak about God without having a personal relationship with Him.
We want to live with God, to enjoy Him, to meet Him, and insist that He have a dwelling in our lives and hearts.
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An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, published in Watani newspaper on 1-4-1973.
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