If every encounter with a person is an encounter with God; should I limit or seek out more encounters with people?
It is said that God had five earthly addresses. The first was the garden of Eden. We read that God dwelled here and humankind enjoyed intimacy with Him. The second one was the tabernacle. We read about a tent that the Israelites pitched and ritualistically maintained where the presence of God was tangibly experienced. The third one was the temple where God, for a time in Israel’s history, manifested his presence. The fourth one takes us into a new epoch. It is Jesus, God in human form. Jesus said that He and the Father are one. Whilst Jesus was on earth, it was never more possible to see and experience God than having an encounter with the person of Jesus.
The fifth one is us. The church. Jesus promised that His Spirit will reside in us. That the Holy Spirit will lead us, comfort us and inspire us to do God’s work on earth. This implies that every encounter with a fellow believer, is also an encounter with God. But that is not all. All people were created in God’s image. That means that even non-believers and broken sinners can show us something of God. In certain ways every person “looks” like God.
Keeping this in mind sheds new light on encounters with people. The mere realization of this can add a holy dimension in the dealings we have with people, even when it comes to the brief and mundane encounter you have with the young teenager behind the counter. We have all had relational exchanges with people that made it feel like God was part of it. We have all had experiences, sometimes even bad ones, that taught us something valuable about life and about God.
For me this all begs the question: Should I then be picky about my encounters with people? Or should I have as much of them as possible? One could off course argue both ways. If we get to know God better through human contact, couldn’t it be a great thing to encounter as many people as possible? And yet we all seem to have a certain capacity, a type of too-much-of-a-good-thing-isn’t-good threshold when it comes to human encounters. When we overcrowd our lives with other people our ability to actually be aware and seek out what they have to show us about God, decreases.
It is also true that in certain seasons and situations we have a need for certain kinds of people (and a decreased capacity for dealing with other kinds). When I am in need of counseling, I need supporting and caring people. When I want to challenge myself to move out of my comfort zone, I seek out a different kind of people. Adventurous and energetic types. Sometimes people seek you up for specific reasons and because of the way they perceive you as helpful to their journey.
Also, solitude sometimes gives us the ability to make more of our encounters with other people. To for instance, reflect more on the substance thereof. Or to plan better for the next one. Absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder. It is so often people forced, or who willingly entered into extended periods of solitude in prisons or monasteries that helps us immensely in matters of wisdom and relationships.
Just how much to pursue or avoid human contact is very difficult to discern. It is perhaps impossible. So nowadays I pray that God will take complete control over who crosses my path and the level of depth of my engagement with them. Some days I feel I could do with more company and other days I feel I have to much. But I am time and again surprised by how people I did not expect it from, moves me to a deeper insight into life and God (and how other’s I expected it from does it much less than I expected them to. )
Lord Jesus, guide me. Send me. To people I need. To people that needs me. Show me how deeply you want me to open myself to another person. Show me also how fiercely you want me to protect who I am and what you have given me when I am with others. But Lord, in difficult and pleasant encounters, when feeling overwhelmed or underchallenged, make me ever so aware of Who you are and in awe about how living and dead, beautiful and ugly, who I like and don’t like, reflect your glory. May I also reflect it ever better. Amen
Gabriel J Snyman
February 25th 2020