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Alexis Waid

Alexis has a Master's degree from Denver Seminary and a Bachelor's degree from Colorado Christian University. She has been in professional ministry for over 15 years. She has served in ministry positions such as co-pastor, youth minister, and spiritual director.
She is a mom, wife, and passionate believer that Jesus changes everything.

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Latest posts by Alexis Waid (see all)

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“Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created”

Have you ever had an epic moment in your life? You know, the one moment where you stepped into a dire circumstance and saved the day? A moment where you felt like you were supposed to be there for that exact situation, and no one else could have instead stood in your place.

Maybe your epic moment was something you did. Or perhaps something you experienced. Nevertheless, I think we have all had a moment in our life where we felt, “This is my purpose in life.”

Esther had an epic moment too.

And that’s what this week’s coloring Scripture is all about!

If you are just joining us, we are currently in the middle of a series, Color Your Way Closer To God. Feel free to check out the beginning of the series here. Before we continue, a quick note about the purpose this coloring series. At Spiritually Hungry, we love to connect with God in many, many different unique and creative ways. The purpose of the Color Your Way Closer to God series is to use coloring Scripture as a way to meditate on God’s word. In this way, we use it as a spiritual exercise, one with the intent to grow close to God by opening up to Him while coloring Scripture.

So back to Esther and the Scripture:
“Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created.”

If you know Esther’s story, and most of us do, Esther was at the right place, in the right position, at the right time. And and as a result, she was able to influence the king and save her people from genocide.

But is that all there is to Esther’s life? Or more importantly, are our entire lives created for just a single moment?

Again, your epic moment could be anything. Maybe it was the birth of your child? Or you stood up to a persecutor, or a bully? Perhaps, you helped someone who really needed you?

But is that it? Is that all? Is everything after your epic moment boring and banal?

People love stories and movies, we especially love hero stories. The stories where a person overcomes a major trial, or steps in and rescues a victim. But what happens to the hero after the climax of the story? We usually never really find out, do we? At the end of those heroic movies, there may be a few minutes at the end of the film depicting what the future holds for our heroes.

But we never watch the mundane moments in life, right? The point of the film isn’t to watch the ordinary, it’s to watch the extraordinary. We love the extraordinary!

And here is where things get interesting for you and me – the Christ followers.

Day in and day out, our lives are usually very average and mundane. We typically do not deal with a crisis, or life and death situations, every day. Those moments only sprout up sporadically in the entire expanse of our lives, unless you are in a profession where dealing in those matters.

But for the rest of us, our lives are pretty predictable from day to day. Relatively average. Quite mundane.

However, if you are a follower of Christ, I don’t think there is anything mundane about our lives.

The King of kings is your God, and you know it. You have accepted it and you follow Him!

Do you remember when you first came to Christ, assuming it was a definable experience in your life that you can point to specifically?

This is often called a Mountaintop experience.

Mountaintop experiences are moments where people experience a dramatic expression of faith. Perhaps they were previously lost, or filled with anger, depression, addiction, confusion. But then, out of nowhere, God’s presence became real to them. Their eyes opened and they saw a whole new reality; the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

Perhaps the mountaintop experience happened on a retreat, or in a worship service or during a mission trip. Or maybe it happened in the dead of the night, all by yourself and God. Regardless of circumstances, the mountaintop experience is for many the moment where God revealed Himself to them, and they in turn, began to follow Him.

If you have had a mountaintop experiences, you probably remember the euphoria, joy and glee of the moment. In that time and space, the fruit of the Spirit because profound, and was immediately alive in you and life looked different.

Jesus Christ literally changed your life.  You were once dead, but you became alive again.

But then what happened? Unfortunately, the mountaintop doesn’t last forever, does it? Eventually life will slowly start creeping back into your joy. There are bills to pay, kids are fighting, school papers to write, a significant other challenging your new belief.

And that Kingdom, that was all shiny and new, starts to tarnish and fade.

…Was that it?

Was that all Jesus offered?

One glorious moment where you experienced His presence immensely, and now, you just have to wait till Heaven to experience it again?

NO, NO, NO!

But, unfortunately, that is what happens to many people. Faith begins on a mountaintop, and then descends into the boring, monotonous valley below.

So you look for ways to stay on the mountain. Maybe you decide to recommit yourself to going to weekly church attendance. And you start looking at your life choices and reevaluate the way you have been living. Perhaps you search for good Christian books to read on discipleship and pick up the Bible in pursuit of your new life.

But…

It does fade, it is inevitable. You just can’t live on the mountaintop.

I’m not sure I have ever met another Christian who from the time their conversion until now kept on rocking the mountaintop experience.

Why? Because the mountaintop is just the beginning, the entry point to your relationship with God.

See… you were not just created for one moment alone.

Do you know why you were created?

You were created to be in fellowship with God. God created you because He wanted to make you! He wanted to have you part of His creation.

You were created for more than a moment, you were created to be in union with God!

Amazing, simply amazing!

I think we all feel this at some degree during our conversion experience. We understand a piece of this theology, because we experience it first hand. We experience God’s powerful presence and we become awake.

But as time goes by, and life goes on, the mountaintop experience of God’s presence only seems like a distant memory that you wish you could live in, but are not sure how to get back there.

Well if that is you, take heart and hopefully you can start living in the experience of feeling God’s ever presence again.

Here are just a few thoughts and things to consider to get you started on the path to reconnecting with God in a real relationship.

1.) Experiencing God Regularly Requires Discipleship
Jesus called His disciples to come and follow Him. You must be tethered to God in order to continue to experience His presence. Spending time with God is the only way to do this, and that’s the heart of discipleship – spending time with God, and learning from that time.

2.) Discipleship Requires Discipline And Commitment
Discipline and commitment go hand-in-hand with discipleship. A disciple is a disciplined person, and committed to finding places where you can grow in God’s love and truth to help you better experience His presence.

We at Spiritually Hungry have a few articles to help you connect to God better:

How to Prepare your Heart for Worship

9 Ways to Focus on God

7 Quick Tips to Understand Scripture Better

5 Prayer Practices for a Busy Day (A Free E-booklet!)

3.) Patience
Patience is incredibly important. Learning to experience God’s presence doesn’t happen overnight. It takes a lot of time and perseverance. Be gracious with yourself – learn patience with yourself first.

4.) Understanding & Belief
Understanding that God is walking with you every moment of the day is vital. Awareness of this truth will help you see a whole new reality available to you. You just need to tap into it. It’s helpful for me to look at this as my lifelong goal, as I try to adapt this truth into my daily activities and life.

And belief that God is indeed walking with you through His Spirit, given to us through Jesus Christ!

It will take a lot of work.

Walking with God is not a simple task and I stumble all the time. But I keep going back and working on it and receiving the grace God is giving me.

I believe so deeply that God is offering us more, much more for our drab lives. He is offering us His presence in a dark, dark world. Friends, this is amazing news, this is the Good News.

We don’t have to wait until Heaven to experience God’s presence, we have the ability to do so right here and now because of the gracious and heroic work of Jesus Christ.

So come along with me, work on this realization that God is alive and is with you. This news is earth shattering to how your life is lived. Get to know this truth and watch how your world starts to change color!

*I understand that not all people have definable conversion stories. I am simply writing to those who have had a “mountaintop conversion.” One is not better than the other, God works in the ways He chooses, and for you maybe the best thing was not to have definable conversion.

We would love to hear from you! What are some ways you have used to experience God’s presence in your life? Please leave a comment below!