08-16-24-DAILY READING-ENG.

EXPERIENCING THE SPIRIT

                                 “YOU ARE NOT ALONE” 

I (Mel) will never forget a lady in our community who walked into our church looking very uncomfortable. Her story was of a fascinating journey of someone seeking truth in all the wrong places. A student of languages, she had traveled to Europe in her younger years, where she met some Islamic men in Paris. Intrigued by their belief system, she moved to Syria to learn Arabic and study the Koran. Eventually she married a Muslim and practiced that religious system for twenty years. In her attempt to please God, she spent many an hour with the prayer mat out, making sure she was facing the right direction and reciting the correct prayers in just the right order. She also fasted the prescribed number of days. But when health issues threatened her family, she found herself at rock bottom. In her painful difficulties, she came to the realization that “religious activity” and a “relationship with God” were by no means the same thing.

She tossed away the prayer mat, got down on her knees, and prayed as she'd never prayed before—from the bottom of her heart. She cried out to her parents, who had passed away, but there was nothing. She cried out to Allah, but still the pain remained. Suddenly she recalled a picture of Jesus she had seen at church in her childhood. The image was as real and vivid as the day she first saw it. So she cried out to Jesus—and got an answer. The answer was, “You are not alone.” It was as if a warm blanket had been wrapped around her, and she felt complete peace. She realized that God was with her. Though her encounter with God was real, she didn't know what to do about it. So she came to our church and made an appointment to meet with me. As I shared the gospel with her, she wept. She exclaimed, “How could I have wasted so much time and energy for so long? I've spent years searching for truth, but my search led me further and further away.

Even as a child being dragged to church, I just never got the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit thing—I just couldn't fathom it.” Now, in an instant, the truth was clear to her: “God has been everywhere—all around me—the whole time! All I had to do was be still, open my heart, and surrender to Him.” Her life is now totally changed. She described her encounter with God as being like hot water poured over a tea bag. Once the water hit, it permeated her life and released a fragrance she'd never before experienced. It was as if she were alive for the first time. The blinders were off, and she could finally see life as it was meant to be. The Spirit of God had taken away her spiritual blindness and given her sight. “I look back on my life,” she said, “and along the way there were many obvious signs of God working in my life. But I just couldn't see them.” Now that she's born again of the Spirit, she has light to see God and respond in faith to His work in her life and to the love relationship He has initiated.