Recently I talked with some friends who were all bunched up over some reports they had heard of people getting their teeth filled with gold at a certain conference. I surely could identify with them on one level, but on another level I had been in a meeting where my friend Karen had actually received such a miracle. I remember the day well. Bob Weiner had been sharing and offered to pray for the group. Afterwards, Karen felt something strange in her mouth and went to mirror to see what it was. Returning she announced to us that the Lord had given her a new filling. One and two at a time we all looked into her mouth and gazed upon the new tooth filled with gold. Someone asked, “Maybe you had it filled by your dentist and have just forgotten.” Karen answered, “No, this just happened to me. I should know.” We took her word for it. Yet, even then it was still hard to believe what we were witnessing with our own eyes. Why is that? Does that happen to you? Has that happened to you? These same people were also concerned about reports of what appeared to be gold like substance appearing on people and in the air in certain meetings. They were saying that God would never do such things. I myself have questioned reports of ‘such things’ wondering and trying to make sense out of what seemed to be unnecessary or ridiculous; all of course from my own perspective of what I thought God could or could not do. I listened sympathetically all the while knowing had some very credible friends of mine own who had experienced ‘gold dust’ encounters. I remember when they first told me of their accounts and how I felt the need to try and balance them out with a deposit of my own cautious wisdom. I guess you could say I was trying to be a good pastor. I would say something like, “Hey, that’s great, but be careful. There are demons out there you know.” Or I would say something like, “What’s the purpose of these manifestations, we must be careful of deception.” My statements of warning and question were reasonable for sure. As the Proverbs says, in my own paraphrase, “You got to be careful; there could be a lion in the street.” After all, there are demons out there and we need to test all things and to guard ourselves from potential deception (and that is really true). But I have since added to my inquire another question, one I ask myself. “At what cost do we ‘be careful’? Is it at all cost? Should our testing and handling of reports of mystical encounters be so pristine, measured and managed that from our perspective there is absolutely no possible chance that we are wrong?” I am afraid a lot of folks would consider that the right answer. But that assumes you are able to make the authoritative measurement of what is truth and error. Yes, we want to test all things and hold on to what is good, but we want to do so with room for God who might be doing things outside of our box. We also want to realize that there are some things—many things—that are subjective and cannot be analyzed under the microscope. There are some things you can’t understand at all until you experience them for yourself. But take courage, our God is big enough to keep us as we look through the glass dimly and take risks to live in the uncertain world of the supernatural.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:07:36 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015