As for me I shall behold Thy face in righteousness, I will be satisfied with Thy likeness when I awake. – Psalm 17:15

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, the famous “love chapter” of the Bible, ‘For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we shall see face to face.’

There is a story in Exodus 33 where Moses sees God pass by him as He is hidden in the rocks.  Moses does not get to see God’s face, but only catches a glimpse of Him from behind.

Believers today may also see glimpses of the Father here and there, but like Moses hidden in the cleft of the rock, we only see His goodness passing by us, as if in our peripheral vision. However, it is in those times, those specific encounters where heaven intersects earth, that God builds our faith in Him.

The Cherokee Indians had a rite of passage that they used as a tradition to signify a Cherokee boy becoming a man. A boy would be taken out to a remote place in the wilderness. His father would blindfold him and tell him he would spend the night alone, but could not remove his blindfold, move, or cry out. He had to get through the terror of the night by himself. The night would pass slowly, the young man hearing every sound, wondering if it was a wild animal. After a long, cold, frightening night the sun would finally rise. The boy, now a Cherokee man, would remove his blindfold, only to realize that just a few yards away sat his father. Watching him, protecting him. Making sure he got through the trial.

You and I may also have moments like that. Moments when we think we are alone but later realize that our Heavenly Father was there all along.

Some believers have had a Damascus Road type of experience, something dramatic, that knocked us off our horse and changed the course of our lives in an instant (see Acts 9). But for many, it was series of events in our lives that led us to know and believe in Him, to be able to say we have felt His presence.

Sometimes in the smile of a child, sometimes in the quiet of the morning we hear that quiet whisper of God. Sometimes we sense Him in a moment during a worship service, in a pastor’s word, or in a sentence we read from His Word. We experience that touch that we recognize as Him.

Our encounters with God are often more like seeing a friend from behind at a distance in a crowd than having coffee with Him face to face.

But it is enough. Enough for us to know He really is there--realizing, like the Indian boy, we have been watched and protected by our loving Father.

But one day, God will not be a visage caught in our peripheral vision. One day, the Apostle Paul says, all who hope in Christ shall see Him face to face. We will no longer need faith and hope, but we will be fulfilled in His presence. And we shall know the truth of His love.

Face to face with Christ, my Savior,Face to face—what will it be,When with rapture I behold Him,Jesus Christ who died for me?

Questions for Thought:

1. Have you ever experienced a time when you could not sense or feel God’s presence?

2. What did that feel like?

3. What does the Bible say about that?