How to See God

You might say: “Wait a minute! ‘How to see God’?! Doesn’t the Bible say ‘No man has seen God and lived’?” Yes, but if we want to see God move in our lives, we need to have a pure heart.

After all, Matthew says:

“and the pure in heart shall see God”.

In other words, if our motives are pure, then we’ll see God.

What’s pure supposed to mean? We want to be really good?

No way. After all, Jesus said: “No one is good but One, that is, God.” (Mark 10:18). We’re never going to be good on our own.

So, how do we see God? If we want to see God, our heart is pure.

If our heart is pure, we’ll see God. Therefore:

If we want to see God, we’ll see God.

That’s simple! So why don’t we?

Because we don’t really want to.

Someone said: “Why?” is the most feared question in the English language. That’s because it goes deep and tends to expose our hearts in ways that are uncomfortable.

I felt that. Even over the week, God was asking me:

Why? Why are you deciding to do this or that?

I was being motivated–not by God, not by His Spirit–but by something else. It made sense to do such-and-such. I would make more money if I did. But I felt that still, small Voice continue to shine a Light on my hidden motives.

Is that your goal? Really? Just to be logical? Just to make money? Didn’t you say you wanted to follow Me?

Oops. God caught me.

I wouldn’t have seen that before, except God had gotten to my heart enough that His plans mattered more to me than mine.

I wanted to be onboard. I wanted to align with Him. I wanted to see God.

Because of that, God could finally show me how we were clashing.

That’s the beauty of God’s promises. Sometimes, we don’t really know what’s motivating us! Sometimes we ask “why?” and we can’t even answer for sure. But God promises:

“...if, in anything, you be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this to you”. (Phillipians 3:15)

In other words, if you want to see God and don’t know what’s hindering you–if you really want to see Him–God will help you see where you are clashing with Him!

That’s an incredible promise!!

Insecurity about making decisions has NO grounds when you’re determined to follow Him, then!

Someone told me: “John, take a few steps forward.”

There were a few of us gathered. I felt a little funny walking out in front of everyone as I responded.

“Why are you insecure?” someone asked me. “Don’t you know ‘the footsteps of the righteous man are ordered by the Lord?’ “

So, no matter what, if I have the heart to see God in my life, I can step out in boldness and faith and expect to see Almighty work in powerful ways!

So the ONLY thing that gets in our way…is ourselves.

I want to challenge you. I want to challenge you to really look at what is moving you throughout your day. Really get honest with yourselves! 

Without this kind of brutal honesty with ourselves, we won’t see God move in our life with abundance. Sure, we might get touched by Him here and there. There’s lots of what I would call “sometime” Christians. They’ve seen God move here and there a few years back. But they aren’t having a continual experience and interaction with the Divine. So they’re lacking things they need in life. They’re spiritually malnourished.

I still have this vivid childhood memory of a woman branded into my mind telling my dad in a meeting: “You don’t think I got faith? I got FAITH, bubba!” 

But then she started talking more. 

As a child, it occurred to me that her faith was based on a singular event years ago. Her and her husband had hit black ice and were sliding towards a horrible accident. 

She cried out to God. Her vehicle suddenly reappeared back on the road, with them in it, with perfect traction.

Totally miraculous! And I’m not knocking her encounter with God. But God had so many more experiences for her! 

I know this, because later when she heard about someone who lost her purse and trusted God to bring it back, this same woman said:

“Oh, I wouldn’t have faith to give that situation to God like that.”

Later, God’s love touched her so profoundly, her and her husband just sat all day, doing nothing but talking about how good God was. Perfect, divinely granted peace washed over that troubled household.

God’s presence transformed their lives.

But I watched as she took that perfect, divinely granted peace, and exchanged it for her familiar, comfortable darkness.

Why in the world would someone choose torment over miraculous peace?!

She was much more comfortable there. That darkness felt like home. It called to her, and she heeded the call. She turned her back on God. The last time I saw her, she was shouting at her hen-pecked husband to get into the car: “we’re getting out of here!”

The old tension was back. God’s peace had gone.

Psalm 78:41 talks about how the rebellious Israelites’ rebellion and refusal to walk with God–and their unbelief–“limited the Holy One of Israel”.

Reader, what we choose to give to God or hold back from Him also limits the Holy One of Israel. That’s right! God, the the Almighty one has chosen to limit Himself by our fickle, human motivations.

That’s astonishing!

But, again, I challenge you. Examine yourself. See if you are in “the faith”, as 2 Corinthians says.

Do you want to see God? It begs repeating. Do you, really?

You’ll know pretty quick.

When you do–you’ll see Him!