Some years back the book Experiencing God swept through the churches. It took the relationship between God & Moses and used it as a template on how we experience God. This was the template:
God is always at work around you.
God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal.
God invites you to become involved with Him in His work.
God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways.
God's invitation for you to work with Him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action.
You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing.
You come to know God by experience as you obey Him and He accomplishes His work through you.
I'm proposing a new template based on the relationship between God & Jacob. It seems to be more along the lines of how people exerience God in these times. I'm calling it Punched by an Angel: Extreme Experiencing God.
The best summary of this plan comes from the great theologian/boxer Mike Tyson when he said, “Everyone has a plan…until they get hit.”
The Dream – God has a dream for you. “He had a dream” Gen 28:12
The Bargain – You will bargain with God, declaring your independence. “If God will be with me” Gen 28:20
The Emptying – God will bring you to the end of your resources. “He sent over all his possessions” Gen 32:23
The Lonely – God will get you alone. “So Jacob was left alone” Gen 32:24
The Struggle – God will wrestle with you. “A man wrestled with him” Gen 32:24
The Clinging – You have a choice to let go of God or cling to God. “I will not let you go” Gen 32:26
The Change – God will change your very identity. “…you will no longer be Jacob...” Gen 32:28
The Limp – You will have a wound that completely healed you. “And he was limping” Gen 32:31
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