One of my favorite movies is Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The title of this 1977 classic comes from a classification of close encounters with aliens. The third kind denotes human observations of aliens. Actually observing an alien would be a really big deal. As far as I know, it’s only happened in movies, yet millions believe in creatures from “somewhere else.”
I don’t know anyone who has seen God, yet I completely believe in Him. I know that many saw Jesus, the God-man, but I haven’t gotten a chance to chat with any of them and I haven’t seen Jesus myself, yet.
My belief in God is certainly largely faith-based, but not entirely. Although I haven’t seen Him, I have had many close encounters. I didn’t always realize I was having an meet with the divine while it was happening. My encounter perception seems to work better through the rear view mirror. Looking back I can see many divine interventions in my life. I have had conditions cured. Only God could have rescued me from certain bad decisions. I have had moments of joy so intense that they were unearthly, or more precisely divine.
I have also had moments so dark and low that my passage through them is evidence of an encounter with God. God has been there, most intensely on the mountain tops and in the deepest darkest valleys.
There are many more, much less dramatic, encounters with Him. They can happen in flashes through the smile of a loved one or a glimpse of His creation that screams, “Enjoy me. I’m proof of the creator.” Sometimes it’s just the warmth of invisible loving arms surrounding and eliminating the chill of a bad day or a tough moment. It can happen when a pain suddenly stops or frightening loneliness unexpectedly vanishes.
Our God is so great and glorious that a Divine Encounter of the Third Kind, an actual sighting, is more than we can handle. It will not always be so. One day we will see Him face to face. Can we even imagine what that will be like, the first personal and permanently transforming Divine Encounter of the Third Kind?
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