Taste and See that the Lord is Good

Think of your favorite dessert.  Think about all of the ingredients (or maybe neglect to think about all of the butter and sugar).  Think of the recipe, how to make this dessert that brings such satisfaction to your tongue.

Are you satisfied now?

No.  You want to eat it!  

Yet somehow, in our spiritual life, we often think about the recipe for how to be in relation with God; we read the Bible and have the ingredients, but we do not actually taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8).

Erwin McManus said, "The real issue facing the Church...is why the Church is so unaffected by the transforming presence of the Living God."  

Are you personally affected by the transforming presence of the Living God?

Last week we spent 5 days in the mountains with our GEM France family.  Usually, these retreats are created to help us plan strategically for the coming year; this year the retreat was created to nourish our spirits.  And it was so good.

Photo Credit:  The Handy Nanny

Brian Rice, author of the book The Exercises Volume One:  Conversations, led our group through times of teaching, practice, and reflection throughout the week.  He reminded us that it is only when we know our hearts truly that we are positioned to truly know God.  Spiritual formation is long, slow, deep, difficult, and particular.  It's a process.  And we are refreshed to know that we have permission from our leaders to be in this process; we have permission to put effort, energy, and time into this spiritual formation.

A handful of our GEM France colleagues have been going through spiritual formation groups in the context of spiritual friendship groups (they share more about the things God is doing in their lives and teaching them than about the specific situations; they go through a book like Conversations and put the spiritual disciplines into practice together rather than attempting to do it on their own), and the process has been life-changing.  They have said that the last year going through this book and this process has brought more spiritual growth than ever before; and out of this personal spiritual growth they have seen more opportunities for ministry than they thought possible.  

I went through the book Sacred Rhythms with two women last spring and got a taste of this goodness.  But as Jordan said recently, we have a poor spiritual memory.  I so quickly forget the importance and value of this experience when I'm not actively participating.  I am planning to get back into this rhythm of spiritual formation in the coming days and weeks and I would love to hear how you yourselves are experiencing the transforming presence of the Living God in your own lives.  

Bill Hyble made the statement, "The way I was doing the work of God in the world was destroying the work of God in my life."  Wow.  We don't want this for our lives (or yours!).  We, as Christians, are called to give soul care to a society that is deeply sick in the soul; yet we ourselves are wounded healers.  May we allow ourselves to taste and see that the Lord is good so that we can genuinely share His goodness with those around us - not just from knowledge of the recipe but from a deep, personal experience.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!  Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!  Psalm 34:8