God Showed Up

In church this past Sunday we heard a message on 2 Chronicles 7 and the completion of the Temple:

"When Solomon finished praying, a bolt of lightning out of heaven struck the Whole-Burnt-Offering and sacrifices and the Glory of God filled The Temple. The Glory was so dense that the priests couldn't get in—God so filled The Temple that there was no room for the priests! When all Israel saw the fire fall from heaven and the Glory of God fill The Temple, they fell on their knees, bowed their heads, and worshiped, thanking God: Yes! God is good! His love never quits!"

It is easy to read over this passage and say, wow I wished God moved like that still today. But if you read into the context of the passage a bit more, you find out that God only showed up after the 20 years of building and preparation. The fireworks came after the preparation and work.

We are going on a missions trip here in 5 days to Guatemala. We have 6 months of preparation, meetings, fundraisers, prayers, conversations, and even confrontations. God is going to show up in our lives in a big way. I do believe that the more you immerse yourself into the experience, the more that you will take away from it. If you stand far off at a safe distance, you will merely have a good tourist experience.

So 5 days away. I say we surrender our fears of encountering God, surrender our tendency to keep God at arms length, surrender our expectations, surrender our will as one big offering and sacrifice to God. Let's see what kind of bolt of lightning will come from heaven and consume that sacrifice. Let's see the glory of God fill this "Temple" which in the New Testament is his people.