Stages Of Faith In God

Divine and personal encounter is the starting point of faith in God. According to the Bible, every individual that placed his/her faith in God arrived there because of a peculiar experience with God.
When God was looking for someone to deliver His people from Egyptian bondage, He chose Moses. However, God needed to introduce Himself to Moses before the assignment. One day, while he was taking care of the flocks of his father-in-law, he led them to Mount Horeb (known also as Sinai), and there, God appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush that burned but was not consumed. Moses became curious, moved closer to observe the strange sight and heard God speak to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” Moses replied, “Here am I.” before he came any nearer to the bush, God said, “Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground” (Exodus 3:4-5).

The Samaritan women met Jesus. During the course of his journeys, Jesus travelled from Judea in the south back to Galilee in the north, going via Samaria. Normally, Jewish travellers made a detour around Samaria to avoid contact with Samaritans, but Jesus took the direct route. He came to Sychar, which was a town near Jacob’s Well.

‘Jesus, tired out by His journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her “Give me a drink”. (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.). The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)

Jesus asked the Samaritan woman for something to drink and here began the longest conversation recorded between Jesus and any person. It is surprising that this conversation happens with someone who was a woman, and non-Jewish. John 4:1-10. The woman herself was certainly surprised when Jesus spoke to her, because normally Jews and Samaritans did not have anything to do with one another.

The examples of Moses from the Old Testament and the Samaritan woman in the New Testament are to confirm that an encounter with God is principal. The purpose of the meeting is to attract us to our maker and our ability to be patient to be ushered into the learning process. You get to know God more and more and this is the second stage of establishing firm and growing faith in God after an encounter.

In the course of the conversation between God and Moses, God revealed himself to him. God replied, “I AM THE ONE WHO ALWAYS IS. Just tell them. ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God also said, “Tell them, ‘The LORD, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob-has sent me to you.” This will be my name forever; it has always been my name, and it will be used throughout all generations Exo. 3:14-15.
Prophet Abiara, General Evangelist, CAC Worldwide. skabiaraofciem@yahoo.co.uk