Why Christians Desperately Need to Stop Chasing an Experience

If we truly find Him, no one will have to tell us to be humble. No one need convince us our old natures are as filthy rags. As we truly find God, the things that are so highly esteemed among men will become detestable in our sight (Luke 16:15). What could be more important than finding God? Take a day, a week, or a month and do nothing but seek Him, persisting until you find Him. Find God, and once you have Him, determine to live the rest of your life in pursuit of His glory. As you touch Him, something will come alive in you: something eternal, someone Almighty! Instead of looking down on people, you will seek to lift them up. You will dwell in the presence of God. And you will be holy, for He is holy.

A Time to Seek

There are certain times when the Lord calls us out of the routine of our daily lives. These are special seasons where His only command is “Seek My face.” He has something precious and vitally important to give us that the familiar pattern of our daily devotions cannot accommodate. During such times people are often delivered of sins that have plagued them for years; others discover a depth in their walk with God that leads to greater effectiveness in ministry and prayer; still others experience breakthroughs in their families and are used by God to see loved ones brought into the kingdom.

Seek God for Himself

We must seek God for Himself. Maturity starts as we break the cycle of seeking God only during hardship; holiness begins the moment we seek God for Himself. A touch from God is wonderful, but we are in pursuit of more than just an experience—more than “goosebumps and tears.” We are seeking to abide with Christ, where we are continually aware of His fullness within us, where His presence dwells in us in glory.

Follow the Lord into the Unfamiliar

How do we enter the Lord’s presence, the sacred place? Notice in the verse above that “anyone who sought the Lord would go out.” If we are going to truly seek the Lord, we must “go out,” as did Moses and the others who sought the Lord. We must pitch our tent “a good distance from the camp.” What camp is this? For Moses, as well as for us, it is the “camp of familiarity.” Is there inherently anything wrong or sinful with the things that are familiar? No, not in themselves, but you will remember that when Jesus told His disciples to follow Him, He called them to leave the familiar pattern of their lives for extended periods and be alone with Him (Matt. 19:27; Luke 14:33). Why? Because He knew that men, by nature, are unconsciously governed by the familiar. If He would expand us to receive the eternal, He must rescue us from the limitations of the temporal.

Root Your Security in Christ Alone

For most people our sense of reality—and hence our security—is often rooted in the familiar. Indeed, most of us pass through life umbilically tied to the protection of the familiar. Experience tells us that many good people remain in lifeless churches simply because they desire the security of familiar faces more than the truth of Christ. Even people who have been delivered from adverse situations are often drawn back into hardship. Why? Because adversity is more familiar to them. Consider that certain prisoners are repeat offenders simply because they are more accustomed to prison life than freedom. Groping blindly through life, they sought for the familiar. How difficult it is to grow spiritually if our security is based upon the stability of outward things. Our security must come from God, not circumstances or even relationships. Our sense of reality needs to be rooted in Christ. When it is, the other areas of our lives experience eternal security. {eoa}

Francis Frangipane is the author of numerous books, including Strength for the Battle, The Three Battlegrounds, The Shelter of the Most High, I Will Be Found by You, and Holiness, Truth, and the Presence of God. Pastor Frangipane is also the founding director of In Christ’s Image Training, an online ministry school with students in nearly eighty nations. His heartfelt prayer is to see Christlike pastors and intercessors in every city united before God and revealing the love of Christ to their communities. This article is an excerpt from his book Transformed in His Presence (Charisma House, 2018).