The story of Moses and the burning bush is a great picture of how God wants to reveal his glory and grace to us in a powerful way. But God never does crazy stuff like that anymore, right? We should just be content to hear the still, small voice of the Spirit in quiet times of prayer and study, right?
Not so fast. In this post, Jonathan Parnell reminds us of some crazy experiences some of our Christian heroes from the past have had:
John Flavel:
It is recorded of him that he spent much time in meditation, self-examination, and prayer, and on one occasion at least he had an extraordinary experience of God. Meditating on horseback, “his thoughts began to swell and rise higher and higher like the waters of Ezekiel’s vision till at last they became an overflowing flood. Such was the intention of his mind, such the ravishing tastes of heavenly joys, and such the full assurance of his interest therein, that he utterly lost a sight and sense of this world and all the concerns thereof…“ (J. I. Packer, Keeping the Heart, 10)
And Jonathan Edwards’s experience in 1737. While riding his horse in the woods, he dismounted for a time of contemplation and prayer and was overcome with a vision of the glory of Christ:
I had a view, that for me was extraordinary, of the glory of the Son of God; as mediator between God and man; and his wonderful, great, full, pure, and sweet grace and love, and meek and gentle condescension. . . . The person of Christ appeared so ineffably excellent, with an excellency great enough to swallow up all thought and conception. Which continued, as near as I can judge, about an hour; which kept me, the bigger part of the time, in a flood of tears, and weeping aloud. (A Personal Narrative, “A Jonathan Edwards Reader,” 293)
And there’s D. L. Moody. He had traveled to New York to collect money for the victims of the Chicago fire. He writes,
I was crying all the time that God would fill me with His Spirit. Well, one day, in the city of New York — oh, what a day! — I cannot describe it, I seldom refer to it; it is almost too sacred an experience to name. . . . I can only say that God revealed himself to me, and I had such an experience of his love that I had to ask him to stay his hand. (William Revell Moody, 1900, The Life of Dwight L. Moody,149)
Parnell observes:
These stories are amazing. And a common element in each one is the normalcy in which these experiences occurred. Riding a horse or walking or going about business in New York, this was the stuff of an ordinary day to these men. It was as plain as the four hours I spend alone each week on the road — as plain as that 15–30-minute window so many of us will find ourselves in every day as we travel between work and home, or from one errand to the next.
Though the background was normal, these brothers had a powerful glimpse of God’s glory. They were overcome with the gospel of Christ. Why? Because they wanted to be. They yearned for more of him. They saw him because they sought him — and they sought him in the simplest routines that make up life . . . when they had just a few minutes by themselves amid their daily responsibilities.