One of the great challenges we face is the need to always be in control. This need for control can extend into every area of our lives and eventually stifle the deeper works God has planned.
When Jan and I lived in Europe, I was invited to speak at a conference. During the meeting, the host asked each of the speakers to come up on the platform. We were an eclectic group from Australia, the United States, and Europe. We were asked to line up across the platform and face the 1,000-plus people who were attending the conference. The host shared with the audience that speakers come to these gatherings and give out, but never have a chance to get refreshed. We stood in line not knowing what would happen next.
The host began walking down the line of speakers and laying his hand gently on each of our foreheads. There was no pushing or shoving. It was just a gentle touch. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see person after person falling under the power of God’s Spirit. To be honest, I did not know what to think and thought I might be the only one who remained standing. When the host walked up to me and touched my forehead, I fell slowly back into the arms of the people who stood behind me. I did not make a conscious choice to do anything. At that moment, I felt the warm oil of the Spirit flow over me unweighting me from anything I was carrying. I began to fall back into a place of freedom.
The sensation I felt was like a continual falling without ever stopping. As I feel, I left this world and entered another place falling deep into the heart of God. As I continued to fall backward, I heard the words of the host who had touched my forehead. He bent down to where I was on the floor and whispered into my ear, “You will enter a season where things will not make sense. Trust God. He knows what He is doing.” A few minutes later, I awakened on the platform with the conference still going on. Jan was there with me. She described her experience like she was a feather falling through the air.
The word given to me that day proved to be 100% accurate. Maybe the only way I would have heard that word in such a deep and assuring way was in a situation where I was no longer the one in control. Each supernatural experience in my life has taught me that something larger and more profound was at work in my life. In those moments, God wanted to remind me what I was missing. Every so often we need to experience the dramatic contrast between a dry and predictable religion and something that leaves us scratching our heads in wonder and awe.
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