Experiencing God: From Silent Nights to Holy Encounters
The Christmas story gives us a beautiful picture of how God reveals Himself in unexpected ways. That first Christmas night wasn’t actually silent at all – there were baby cries, a woman in labor, confused parents, angels announcing in the sky, and animals in the stable. Yet in many ways, it appeared God was absent from the chaos until He made Himself known through the birth of Jesus.
This mirrors our own “silent nights” – those difficult seasons when God seems distant or absent. But these can become “holy nights” when we learn to experience God’s presence in new ways.
Why We Struggle to Experience God
One of our biggest obstacles to experiencing God is that we often fabricate what we think God should look like rather than allowing Him to reveal Himself to us. Throughout history, people have created idols – physical representations of what they believed God should be. Today, we create mental and emotional idols, crafting expectations of how God should show up, when He should act, and what methods He should use.
The problem with fabricating God is simple: when He doesn’t show up the way we planned, we struggle to worship Him. When He looks like our expectations, worship feels easy. When He doesn’t, we question whether we want a relationship with Him at all.
The God You See vs. The God You Want
Here’s a crucial truth: The God you see is not always the God you want, but He is always the God you need. When Jesus showed up as a baby in a stable, that wasn’t the God people expected. They wanted a warrior king who would overthrow Rome. Instead, God showed up as Emmanuel – “God with us” – because that’s what they truly needed.
To experience God authentically, we must surrender four things:
- Our expectations about how God should show up
- Our timeline for when He should act
- Our methods for how He should work
- Our resistance to His revelation
How We Experience God
Scripture reveals ten primary ways we can encounter and experience God in our daily lives:
1. Through Worship
God inhabits the praises of His people. If you’re a passive participant in worship – just going through the motions – you’re missing opportunities to encounter God’s presence.
2. Through Suffering
Job declared, “I had heard about you, but now I have seen you” after his season of suffering. Paul wrote about knowing Christ “in the power of His suffering.” While we don’t seek suffering, God often reveals Himself powerfully in our pain.
3. Through Obedience
Every step of obedience opens a new level of experience with God. Often, God doesn’t reveal the full plan – He just asks for one step of faith at a time.
4. Through Prayer
Prayer isn’t primarily about getting what we want; it’s about developing oneness with God. It aligns our hearts with His heart.
5. Through Community
Jesus promised that where two or three gather in His name, He is present. Don’t avoid conversations with other believers – join them, even if you only contribute an “Amen.”
6. Through Service
When we serve others, we serve Christ. He is present in our acts of service to “the least of these.”
7. Through Work
God is present in our gifts, talents, and strengths. When we use these abilities, we have opportunities to experience Him.
8. Through Sacraments and Ceremonies
Communion, baptism, weddings, and other sacred ceremonies are places where God reveals His presence.
9. Through Nature
Creation declares God’s glory. Many people experience profound encounters with God in natural settings.
10. Through Stillness and Silence
As Psalm 46:10 commands: “Be still and know that I am God.” Sometimes we must quiet the noise to hear His voice.
How God Speaks to Us
God communicates with us in ten distinct ways:
- Instructionally – through Scripture and biblical teaching
- Inwardly – through inner promptings and conviction
- Intuitively – through spiritual discernment and “knowing”
- Audibly – through His actual voice
- Providentially – through circumstances
- Relationally – through other people and wise counsel
- Revelationally – through dreams, visions, and spiritual gifts
- Creationally – through nature and creation
- Quietly – in whispers and gentle promptings
- Innocently – through children or unexpected messengers
The Purpose of Experiencing God
Experiences Transform Us
If you’re not interested in changing, you’re not ready to experience God. Divine encounters are designed to transform us, not just inform us. Mary’s response to the angel demonstrates this perfectly – she moved from questioning (“How can this be?”) to surrendering (“I am the Lord’s servant”).
God transforms us in four ways through experiences:
- Helping us see what we couldn’t see on our own
- Helping us know what we couldn’t know before
- Helping us become what we couldn’t be alone
- Helping us do what we couldn’t do by ourselves
Experiences Exalt God
True encounters with God don’t exalt us – they humble us and exalt Him. The shepherds didn’t keep their experience to themselves; they shared it with everyone, and “all who heard were astonished.”
God is exalted through our experiences in three ways:
- In our personal lives as we see Him differently
- Through our testimony and changed life
- As our stories spread and impact others
How to Position Yourself for God’s Presence
To experience more of God in your life, follow this four-step approach:
- Make yourself available to God – Tell Him, “Here I am, use me”
- Make yourself open to God – Release your preconceptions about how He should work
- Make yourself ready – Stay in God’s Word and be prepared to hear from Him
- Make yourself accountable – Have others help you discern God’s voice and stay on track
Life Application
This week, challenge yourself to actively pursue one of the ten ways to experience God listed above. Instead of being a passive participant in your faith, become an active seeker of God’s presence. Choose one area – whether it’s worship, service, prayer, or spending time in nature – and intentionally position yourself to encounter God there.
Remember that nothing is impossible with God, which means everything is possible with Him. Your experiences with the Divine are not only possible but essential for your spiritual growth and transformation.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What expectations about God do I need to surrender?
- In which of the ten ways am I most likely to experience God based on how He’s made me?
- What changes is God wanting to make in my life that I’ve been resisting?
- How can my experiences with God better exalt Him rather than elevate myself?
Make 2026 the year you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, trusting that all other things will be added unto you. Be still, know that He is God, and position yourself to experience His transforming presence in your daily life.