At age 19, I had an experience that pushed my life toward ministry.
We lived on a farm just outside Kemp, TX. In the country, we had a night sky that was glorious with stars.
Before going to bed, I often stepped outside to gaze into the starry sky and pray. One of those nights changed my life.
When I glanced up to pray, I was hit by joy.
I say hit. I could say seized. It was a joy so strong it shook me.
It was so much joy I couldn’t hold it. I thought I might die! I thought I might stop breathing.
I told God so.
I said, “Thank you, Lord. But I can’t take any more joy.”
And it slowly subsided. It had lasted, I think, less than a minute.
Overwhelming as it was, it was joy—ecstasy beyond anything I ever imagined.
It was a “God thing.” I knew that.
I just didn’t know what it was, exactly.
So, I headed for the library when I got to my junior college the next morning. It was there I found William James’ masterpiece, The Varieties of Religious Experience.
That’s what I had—
a “religious experience.”
I knew that joy was not from me. It came from some realm beyond this one.
And I knew that realm, that sacred realm, was available to us.
God is available to us.
We live our lives on the verge of glory. And even when life is hard, that joy is never far away.
If we ask for it, we will receive it. I believe that.
But I must add—you’ll want a lower dose of it than I got.
(Worship is at 11:00. Look for us online.)