Powerful Things Happen when People connect with god

I had the privilege of working at a summer camp for six summers, and for those of you who have worked at a summer camp or camped at one, you know the profound moments you often encounter unexpectedly. There is something about the sun setting over a sea of trees in the middle of July, as fires are lit, and dusk sets in, in which you have this moment of awe. For me, it was in these moments that I would have periodic run-ins with God.

As I walked the fields in the twilight hours, the dew setting on the grass, in the cool of the evening, God would speak to me. And each time, I could not help but be whisked away to the garden where all things started. Although Seneca Hills Bible Camp did not border the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (the place where the garden of Eden is said to be found), it did border the not-so-grand big sandy river. It was in that garden that God would walk in the cool of the evening, alongside Adam and Eve.

If you are anything like me, you probably have longed for moments like that with God, where you can feel His presence, as if He is walking alongside of you. Although these moments are few and far between, they helped me experience the necessity for unity with God.

It is interesting, in the creation story of Genesis 1, God speaks into existence everything we see around us, and when he gazes down at His handiwork, He repeatedly says it is "good." On the 6th day, after he finished creating Humans, He looked across all of his creation, from the tiny mitochondria (the powerhouse of the cell) to the expanse of IC-1101 (the largest galaxy in the observable universe), and said that it was "very good."

In English, we miss out on the full expanse of meaning in that word "good." For most readers, "good" is just a little better than "ok" and a little worse than "great." There is little weight to the word. In the original language in which Genesis was written in, one could translate "good" to, "as it should be." So, when God finished creating everything, He looked across and said, "it is as it should be." Included in that was his relationship with Adam and Eve, with humanity. It is hard to imagine nowadays that anything is "as it should be," certainly not with humanity.

 It takes less than 30 seconds of us watching the news to realize our world is far from what it should be. Whether wars, viruses, natural disasters, or maybe a little closer to home: divorce, alcoholic parent, a friend who died from an overdose… It is easy to see how our world is far from as it should be. Yet, in the beginning, our relationship with God was, indeed, "as it should be."

It was in those moments when I walked along the edge of the woods at summer camp, in the cool of the evening, I was able to experience a little bit of life as it should be. You see, Adam and Eve's relationship with God was so "good", they also walked with God in the cool of the evening in the woods. I mean, can you imagine what it would be like; God—who created the entire universe, from the largest star to the smallest neutrino, just by speaking—walking side by side with Adam and Eve. I know I say to myself, if I could just have a moment like that with God, maybe things would be different. Moments like this give us glimpses of life as it should be, and those glimpses provide us with a vision to make the world we inhabit, as it should be.

That is what we are striving for with United. Jesus taught his disciples to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." This is the goal we are working toward: bringing the kingdom of heaven here to earth. To make each little piece of the world that we occupy, whether it’s your classroom, apartment building, work cubical, as it should be. To make Indiana and IUP, as it should be. But we can only do it together because it is only in unity that people come to know the good news of Jesus, that is, your life can be "as it should be."

So, how do we get there? Just as it was with Adam and Eve, it starts with unity with God. living UNITED with each other requires us first to be united with God. Without being united to God, we are too selfish to ever think of others first (at least I know I am far too selfish on my own accord). You can only see the possibility of living united when you've had those moments in the cool of the evening with God. 

Maybe for you, it isn’t walking along the edge of the woods at a summer camp. Perhaps its coffee in the morning when the house is quiet, where you have a moment of silence and stillness. Its then when you fix your eyes and heart on the things above, where you will meet God. Maybe it's when your life is falling apart; you are anxiety-ridden because you have too many projects, tests, and assignments that need to be done, and Jesus says to you, "come to me all who are weary, and I will give you rest."

It's in those small moments of intimacy with God—of unity with God—those “walking in the woods moment”, where God makes your life "as it should be" for just a little while. And these moments enable us to live in unity with each other.