Church, God, Ponderings

Recently I've had a couple of great, connecting moments with God that have occured while I've been in a church building.

But the trend has become more that I experience God more and more in the everyday moments of life that at random moments I am struck by the sheer complexity, beauty and emotion that is bundled into a situation and God uses those deep feelings and moments of realisation to teach me and draw me closer to Him.

At first I was worried, thinking:
'Shouldn't I really be feeling this in church all the time as well?!'
which got me worrying
you know, I've always been rather loyal to the church simply because I love being in community with people who also love God.

But that's not true because God is everywhere, He is not restricted to the church building.

The wonders of the world we live in have always been there to point out to us humans that there is something beyond the realm of our understanding and consciousness.

God delights in us having fun and longs for us to have a relationship with Him; for Him to be included in every area of our life.

So why should I expect to feel any differently or any better in church than I do just going around my normal life?
Sure, church is a great place to focus my attention on God, to praise Him and reflect on my week....but I can also do that when I'm sat on a park bench watching the world go by.

This was pondered upon by Mark Foreman in his book 'Wholly Jesus' which I am (in the rather slow process of) reading. Who finds exactly that, that he feels closer to God a lot more often when He is staring out over the sea in his hometown than in a stuffy building.

Along with this thinking there is some clarification to do...

• Church is a good place to go....we cannot hope to grow effectively in faith and matters of life unless we are in relationships with others....dialoguing, learning, growing close to, holding accountable, being held accountable to others who share our faith (regardless of whether we share the same opinions). There is alot to be said for gathering together and powerful things happen when God mobilises His people.
  
  
• God IS present when we go to church.
  "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." - Matt 18:20
  Our faith in Jesus, in God should not be based on some warm, fuzzy feeling. Which is a mistake alot of people make, not least myself, especially in my early years of 'absorbing information' about Christianity (the majority of my teenage years)
  
  

Obviously there will be times when life is hunky-dory. Things are beautiful, God is Great! There there are the times when you'd rather crawl under the pillow and pretend you don't exist when someone asks you a tough question. When you scream and kick at God because you don't understand. When it feels as if you are all by your self, He's left you and you are a wretch.


All of these feelings are true and valid, but God is bigger than all of them alot, lot bigger. He transcends time, knowledge and understanding. He never changes
Simply because your church doesn't play the right music, isn't big enough, doesn't use the right words at the right time, or you simply 'don't feel it'
doesn't mean God's not there