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Day 32: Chamber Encounters (SoS 1:4c)

    "Draw me away! We will run after you.The king has brought me into his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will remember your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you." Song  of Songs 1:4

God gives encounters for many reasons and different purposes. Throughout the bible we see Him using encounters to bring men to salvation like in the case of Saul who became Paul. He used an encounter to call Moses, Jeremiah, and many more into an assignment. He used an encounter to correct Job's misconceptions about Him. Sometimes, He uses them to reveal a new dimension of Him unknown to a man, to give a promise or cut a covenant.

Though all these encounters are private, personal experiences, I use chamber encounters to specific encounters given to draw us into intimacy with or a deeper knowledge of Jesus.

Every believer should have not one but many encounters with God consistently. Moments with God that grant us a revelation of Him, transform our lives and strengthen our walk with Him.

Many believers know the Lord only by what they've heard in church or through fellow believers. But that is not enough to fuel an ever-deepening intimacy with Jesus. Chamber encounters are definite, they can be spectacular (i.e. come with a demonstration of the Holy Spirit), but other times it's just a eureka moment when the word of God or a truth we've heard many times come alive to us.

One of the most profound chamber encounters in the Bible was the Samaritan woman's encounter with Jesus at the well. From her conversation with Jesus in John 4, it's obvious she had carried a desire to know and serve God for a very long time.

The Bible tells us that Jesus did not plan to meet with her but what seemed like a chance meeting became an encounter for a woman who was hungry for God. Jesus met her in her hidden place, where she was isolated from all: by the well.

Jesus searched her, let her know that He knows her and her past, but most importantly, sees, understands, and knows her heart. Then revealed Himself to her as the Messiah, that she may know Him.

Another example of a chamber encounter though more intentional was Moses on the mountain in the presence of the Lord asking to see His glory. In response, God passed before Him and revealed His character to him.

Even though we talk about these encounters being in hidden places, sometimes the Lord gives us these encounters in a congregation. At that moment, though we have company it's secret because it's a one-on-one interaction with Him.

We find an example of that also in John 4:42 when the people of the Samaritan's village said to her after spending time with Jesus:

“Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

Whether in public or in private, our spiritual life is sustained primarily by encounters in the word, and then by supernatural ones as the Lord wills. To deepen our walk with Jesus is to consistently progress from one chamber encounter to another.

PRAY WITH ME:
Lord, as I spend time with you in private and in a congregation, give me deeper chamber encounters with you. Search me and know me, reveal Yourself to me. Amen.

REFLECT AND ACT:
  • Have you ever had a chamber encounter? A moment when you received a revelation of Jesus whether through the word or spectacular manifestations of the Spirit?
  • If you've ever had chamber encounters with God, recall and revisit them.
  • Meditate on and turn Job's words in Job 42:5 into a prayer:
“In the past, I had heard about you from other people. Now I have seen you for myself.” (EASY ENGLISH BIBLE)










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