hristianity, on a personal level, is best described as a relationship between God and the individual. However, from a human perspective, the practicalities of such a relationship developing—and being maintained—with a God who too often seems invisible, untouchable, and somewhat mythological are daunting and puzzling. For our Christian experience to be real and growing, we must develop an ever-expanding vision of the God with whom this relationship is taking place.

The concept of developing some kind of a vision of God can be yet another nebulous idea in a series of theoretical Christian platitudes. However, examining the impact that a confrontation with God has had in the lives of people throughout history can give us an idea as to how, through such experiences, we can discover the relationship that He wants to have with all people and with us as individuals.

Three Encounters
I want to look now at the experiences of three persons from different times in history whose encounters with God demonstrate the transforming power of an expanded vision of the Supreme Being.

Moses had spent many years wandering through the  desert as a humble shepherd, in stark contrast to the luxury to which he’d grown accustomed as an Egyptian prince in the first part of his life. His life was to take another sudden turn when God appeared to him in a burning bush. God presented Himself to this desert shepherd with a name that revealed His ultimate greatness: “I AM WHO I AM.”  Moses’ attempts at argument were quickly swept aside, and with God’s assurance “I will be with you” he was sent to lead the Israelite nation out of Egypt and into the Promised Land.

Saul, better known as Paul, is first mentioned in the Bible as minding the clothes of those who stoned Stephen.¹ This marked the beginning of a brutal campaign on his part to destroy the newly formed Christian church.² But as he headed for Damascus on his deadly mission, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him, throwing him to the ground. The Bible says that “he . . . heard a voice.”³ Paul recognized the voice as that of God, and his zeal for destroying the church was channeled thereafter into a new role assigned to him by God Himself: “My chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.”⁴

Martin Luther King, Jr., was a young minister in the  town of Montgomery, Alabama, in the 1950s when unexpectedly he found himself in the middle of a boycott of the local bus company in protest for its treatment of Blacks. It seemed that almost by accident he had been elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, the organization coordinating the boycott. Soon his prominence caused him to become the target of those opposing the boycott action, and one evening around midnight he received a threatening anonymous phone call: “If you aren’t out of this town within three days,” the caller said, “we’re going to blow your brains out, and blow up your house.”⁵

While his young family slept, King sat in his kitchen, battling his fears.

Later he would explain what happened that night: “I discovered then that religion had to become real to me, and I had to know God for myself. . . . And it seemed to me at that moment that I could hear an inner voice saying to me, ‘Martin Luther, stand up for righteousness. Stand up for justice. Stand up for truth. And lo, I will be with you, even unto the end of the world.’”⁶

King found great strength from this experience: “Almost at once my fears began to go. My uncertainty disappeared.”⁷ And with renewed enthusiasm he launched himself into the work of the emerging civil rights movement.

A Vision?
Unfortunately such experiences seem a long way from the banality of our everyday lives. More often than not, if we come across a burning bush, especially here in Australia, it is rapidly consumed by the advancing bush fire of which it is a part. If we fall off a horse, it probably has more to do with our inability to ride than being knocked off by any great light. And if we hear voices at midnight, it’s usually yet another indicator that we desperately need some sleep. However, experiences such as those of Moses, Paul, and Martin Luther King, Jr., demonstrate the reality of God and the life-changing event that comes from a confrontation with Him. Our religion has to become real to us, and we have to put forth the effort to know God for ourselves.

Said the Lord through Jeremiah, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”⁸

It is even possible that the process of seeking with all our hearts is more important than the finding. The process of seeking—in line with similar biblical reasoning, such as losing our lives to gain them and taking up the cross to be relieved of our burdens—may actually be the finding itself, especially when we consider that the Bible states that God is not hiding but is out looking for us.⁹

Whatever the practicalities of the search, God’s request for us to search for Him includes a promise that our search will be successful. The Bible is filled with stories of people searching for God in different ways. They did not always find God in the places they expected. But when they placed their trust in His love and goodness, they found what they needed.

Ultimately our search for a vision of God finds its end in Jesus and His death for us on the cross. The cross was an incredible revelation of God, a visible demonstration of who He is and what He is like. Jesus Himself said, “If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. . . . Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”¹⁰ Though often obscured by the dust of history, this is the glorious reality: Jesus was “God with us.”

We continue to struggle with imperfect, sin-damaged eyesight as we seek a vision of our God. But we have the promise that one day we will see so much better. Some years after his blinding vision Paul wrote, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully.”¹¹

A Response
The experiences of Moses, Paul, and Martin Luther King, Jr., have had a profound impact upon many. Until their respective turning point, each of them had been trying to do what was right, with limited success. But each turned around the moment they recognized God’s claims on their lives. Moses went on to lead the unwieldy tribes of Israel for 40 years through the desert to the very verge of the Promised Land. And Paul became the greatest Christian missionary ever, overcoming enormous difficulties and trials to spread his vision of Jesus across the Roman world.

King, for his part, encouraged by the reassurance he’d received that night in the kitchen in Montgomery, continued his efforts for the civil rights cause in the United States, rose to international prominence, and in 1964 received the Nobel Prize for peace.

On the night before he was assassinated, confronted by threats against him, he concluded what may have been his greatest sermon with the following words:

“Well, I don’t know what will happen now. . . . But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. . . . And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. ‘Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.’”¹²

The experiences of these three men provide a powerful testimony to the transforming power of God. God is the same today. And an ever-expanding vision of Him is ours if we want it.

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¹ Acts 7:58.
² Acts 8:3.
³ Acts 9:3, 4, NIV.
⁴ Verse 15, NIV.
⁵ David J. Garrow, Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King and the Southern Leadership Conference (London: Vintage, 1986), pp. 57, 58.
⁶ Ibid., p. 58.
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ Jer. 29:13, NIV (cf. Deut. 4:29).
⁹ Luke 15:4.
¹⁰ John 14:7-9, NIV.
¹¹ 1 Cor. 13:12, NIV.
¹² Martin Luther King, I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World, ed. James M. Washington (San Francisco: Harper, 1992), p. 203.

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Nathan Brown, a freelance journalist, is currently pursuing studies toward a degree in literature.