Thursday, August 14, 2008
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What Does God Taste Like?
by miss poppy
Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
Have you ever tasted God?
God is so good on so many levels that I think this verse can be applied many different ways. Without realizing it, I always thought it meant that God does good things. While that is certainly true, I am now realizing that there is more to the meaning than that.
I still have eons to go in my relationship with God, but one thing that I keep realizing over and over again is how satisfying God is as a person. I don't have to beg Him to satisfy me. If I spend time with Him, His being automatically fills me. I don't have to entreat Him to fill me with love. He can't help it.
As I have read, you can't out give God. If I choose to surrender my time to Him, He gives me an overflow of joy and peace and comfort that I can't find anywhere else. God could demand my love and obedience as His right; instead, He rewards me for doing things that I should do automatically.
I shake my head at myself sometimes. Somehow, Satan still manages to convince me that pressing in to God's presence is too hard or too much work. But there's no greater lie. God's presence nourishes my soul and gives me the greatest pleasure I could ever know.
Yes, Christianity is about self-denial, but that self-denial leads to the greatest joy a person can have. There is sacrifice involved, daily sacrifice of my control of my life. But He is always waiting on both sides of the sacrifice, holding my hand while I make the choice to surrender and comforting me with showers of love afterward. Just being close to Him is enough to satisfy me forever. That's not because I'm virtuous or spiritual; it's because He's irresistibly delightful.
Humans are made for delight, both to give it and to receive it. The Bible doesn't say "Put up with the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." No way! It says, Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4). We delight in things that are delightful; we're not meant to hate our time with God or receive no joy from it.
Sometimes it seems as if God is trying to get my attention and woo me away from thinking so much and analyzing everything about my spiritual journey. I want to get through every issue and understand everything today! Yesterday if possible! But God smiles at me and calls to me so sweetly that my heart cries to respond.
"Come here! Come close! Enjoy me!" He seems to be saying. "The other things will come in their time."
And when I look at Him, forgetting my obsessive concentration and seriousness, I am gloriously reminded that He is the living water I have needed all along. He stands with His arms open, wanting to be known and enjoyed. I could look at Him forever and be satisfied, and yet He also touches me and interacts with me. In those holy moments I realize with wonder that not only do I delight in Him, but He also delights in me. Psalm 149:4 says, For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. There is nothing more nourishing to my heart than this reciprocal relationship.
I believe that I have only experienced the tip of the iceberg of the delight that is contained in God's being. His winsomeness calls to me and pierces me with longing for Him. And I am not drawn to a God who enthralls me and ignores me. No, His gaze is fixed as intently on me as mine is on Him.
A.W. Tozer wrote, "When we lift our inward eyes to gaze upon God we are sure to meet friendly eyes gazing back at us....When the eyes of the soul looking out meet the eyes of God looking in, heaven has begun right here on this earth." (The Pursuit of God)
How does God "taste" to you? How do you feel (and know) when you are in God's presence?
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Comments (10)
@prettymama@xanga - Very true. I once had an unexpected and very sweet experience of God's presence right after I finally exploded and expressed my anger at Him for something He had allowed in my past. It was like He had been waiting for me to be honest so that He could comfort my heart at the place it was really hurting.
@misspoppy - it's hard not to base our concept of God on our experiences with human relationships. It's so hard to trust God and just let him comfort you at that place you are hurting (like you said)...cuz how often does it happen in real life when you're honest with someone only to have that person lash out at you? Thanks for the encouraging post!
@prettymama@xanga - So true. People can't always handle our raw emotions and pain, but God always can. And He can even handle our ugliness and sin. Impossible to comprehend.
You're very welcome! I was beginning to wonder if anyone liked it :)
Wow! Wow! Wow! YES! I love this post.
"He can't help it." Best thing ever! So true.
To me, God "tastes" like that fresh smell after a rainstorm. He tastes like the sense of awe I get staring at the starry night sky, especially when I think that the One who made it all takes a personal interest in little old me. He tastes like the comfort of a warm, friendly cat on a cold night. I taste Him achingly when I hear a gorgeous bit of music, or, very rarely, see a picture that speaks to me deeply. He tastes like the occasional flashes of ecstasy I experience in my time with Him... You know, people like to say it's not all about feelings, (and I say that, too, when I'm just not feeling it) but there's a balance. It has to make some sense in our heads, yes, and the choice to follow God is not a flighty emotional choice. Still, if our hearts aren't in it, and we don't ever get any rewarding feelings, there's not much incentive, you know? It's silly how childish I am in that, but praise God for rewarding us for even the basics. :)
Once, my boyfriend and I took a short hike, holding hands, to a cliff on Lookout Mountain popular for watching the sunset. It was early spring, and many kinds of flowers were blooming in the woods. The sweet smell of honeysuckle hung in the air. Brand new leaves made a green mist in the trees and, winding between them, the path itself was attractive, made from stones set like stairs. The light from the setting sun was perfect, shining through every petal. It was so beautiful it hurt! Those untarnished five minutes were the tiniest taste of God's sweet beauty, and I could hardly bear it.
Crazy, though, yes, how Satan tries to steal our awareness of God and our desire to actually spend quality time with Him. As often as I catch glimpses of my Savior, it's not NEARLY enough, and I am so easily distracted. THANK YOU for this post. I want to save it somehow so I can always be able to read it! Is it okay if I copy it onto Word and save it on my laptop? lol
@DistantStarlight@xanga - :) Copy away! Great comment.
I definitely think feelings have to do with it, or rather, that place in God that is deeper than normal emotions. "Feelings" seems to be the only word we have, but it doesn't seem quite adequate, does it?
I'm happy to be childlike. I think God wants our motivation to be all about the heart. We think we should have some elevated, intellectual motivation for serving God, but I think He's delighted when we're motivated by the experience of His love. After all, He loves to love us. Of course He's worthy of all adoration, but He wants to know us as His children. As the Bible says, we love God because He first loved us!
Lookout Mountain is beautiful. My sister used to attend church there.
I know by the peace - even in the times when I am not sure at all what is going on or where I should be I always know by the peace. When you can totally close everything else and just feel the inner peace. It is awesome.
Sometimes it is so strong, like time stops and other times it is little reminders that He is there. It talks in Genesis about His Spirit hovering over the water and I wonder, water means body of people so what if that symbolizes that He Spirit hovers over us.
Rob Bell talks about one of His names being Yaw ha Faw ha ( I am not sure if tha is how you spell it) But it actually means breath. And He is right, so this very minute we are tasting the very breath of God. Sweet eh!!!!!
I'm totally linking the Machall Applied Theology rant.
@moritheil@xanga - Cute comic. Unfortunately, it goes right over the head of your audience here.
But a jelly doughnut-flavoured god would be awesome. :D
Miss Poppy
I loved it ..... you are right, we must have the balance .... God wants all of us .... our hearts, our minds, our bodies, as well as our souls.
If every you come close to seeing sheer beauty .... you catch a glimpse of the reality of God .... He is beauty, and sweetness and awesomeness and strength.
What does God taste like? .... everything, life in its absolute fullness .... in His presence I am complete.
blessings