Your Experience With God
Over the years, I have traveled to multiple countries and have had the opportunity to see the move of God throughout the world.
The first thing that I have learned, is that you can not judge God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, or Christianity based on the American standard of belief.
God does not change. Period. He is the same in every country among all people. However, His people seem to have different interactions and that leads to people thinking that God is different, or that God can or cant do something based on experience.
For example, in America, there is a lot of debate regarding if God can or does still do miracles through spiritual gifts. These debates exist in other countries as well, however the debate is minimal compared to the United States or those in first-world nations.
Most of our interpretation of God is based on our faith. If we have faith that God can do something, we in turn give Him permission to act in that manner. So where someone may not have faith that God can heal a sick loved one, another person may believe that God is the only answer and therefore sees God move in an amazing way.
In the example above, the one with no faith or doubting faith will see that “God does not heal” while the one with faith may see a healing take place and will declare that “God can heal.”
These are both Christian serving the same God, but their interpretation is very different, and therefore, their experience is different.
We can apply this through our earthly father. A son grows up working in the garage, the yard, and other projects and has an awesome relationship with his dad. In the meantime, his sister, lacks the same relationship with her dad. When the two siblings are asked about their dad, the boy will say that he always is there teaching, and spending time with him while the sister will say that her dad never had time for her or something along those lines.
The Bible says that if we draw close to God, He will draw close to us. (James 4:8) If we want to understand the full power of God, we have to draw close to Him. If you want to know all of His power, or what He is willing to reveal to you, you must seek Him.
This is directly related to the variation of experiences that are present in believers around the world.
Believers in rural Africa, India, Asia, South America, or any other region that is not known for prosperity often have deeper relationships with God because the other distractions are not there. If you are starving in Africa, the government is not going to give you food stamps. You have to pray that God will provide.
This is the real reason why the experience in believers varies so much. We have so many distractions that we tell God what He can and cannot do. We put our faith in doctors, government, and insurance over God the Father who wants to care for us.
I pray that this blog challenges you to reevaluate your faith and that, every day, you will seek a closer walk to God.
In Christ, Doug Shaw
