Encountering God is not first about height or spectacle. It is about attention. Scripture repeatedly shows that God is present long before we notice. Moses meets God not when he plans a spiritual experience, but while tending sheep. Samuel hears God’s voice in the night and mistakes it for ordinary sound. The problem is rarely God’s absence; it is our distraction. We often imagine that encountering God means feeling something intense or receiving clear answers. But the Bible speaks more quietly. Elijah does not meet God in wind, earthquake, or fire, but in a still, small voice. God refuses to compete with noise. God waits until the shouting stops.
To encounter God is to allow ourselves to be interrupted. Jacob meets God while running, frightened, and unsure of his future. He lies down with a stone for a pillow and wakes up saying, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” That sentence could be our own. God is present in places we overlook: routine work, unresolved questions, strained relationships, ordinary worship
The Gospels sharpen this truth. People encounter God not in theories about heaven, but in Jesus eating, walking, touching, listening. God is encountered in compassion shown to the sick, in forgiveness offered to sinners, in truth spoken to the powerful. When Jesus asks, “What are you looking for?” he is not testing faith; he is opening a door to encounter.
Encountering God always leads to change. Moses returns to Egypt. Isaiah speaks when he would rather remain silent. The disciples leave their nets. An encounter does not remove fear, but it reorders loyalty. We still live in the same world, but we no longer live for the same reasons.
The question, then, is not whether God is near. God already is. The question is whether we are willing to slow down, listen, and respond. Faith begins not with certainty, but with attention. If we learn to say, even once, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening,” we may discover that God has been speaking all along.
