The Place of Encounter

“The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.” (Revelation 22:17)

“I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.” (Revelation 21:6)

Although God can can stir in a distant and distracted heart (and I am so grateful that this is true), I have found over and over again that my place of encounter with God is when nothing else matters, and I finally lay everything down, every desire, every longing, every concern, and my heart is fixed on one desire alone – Jesus. Nothing but Jesus will do. When I finally arrive at that glorious place, where He Himself must take me, we meet. Jesus and I meet. His Spirit comes upon me and flows in me, and I know Him a little more as He knows me. 

“You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.” (St. Augustine, Confessions, Bk 7, Ch 10)

“There is nothing for which we should pray more earnestly and more importunately than for spiritual longing and desire. It is indeed the very soul of all true prayer. It is the empty hand reached out to receive new and richer gifts from heaven. It is the heart’s cry which God hears with acceptance and answers always with more and more of life. It is the ascending angel that climbs the radiant ladder to return on the same bright stairway with blessing from God’s very hand. It is the key that unlocks new storehouses of divine goodness and enrichment. It is indeed nothing less than the very life of God in the human soul, struggling to grow up in us into the fullness of the stature of Christ.” (J.R. Miller, Come Ye Apart)