Red-faced in a Church Pew – How an Encounter with God Changes Everything

My cousin, Les, and I had never been so embarrassed in church. 

We were already out of our comfort zone, but our faux pas just made it worse. That Sunday we’d decided to visit a new church. While the order of service was similar, there was one major difference – one we didn’t notice until it was too late. 

We sung, knelt, sat, and stood at appropriate times, but when it was time to receive communion, we missed one really important detail – where to go afterward. 

We filed into the center aisle, waited in line to receive communion, then turned to walk back to our pew. The aisle was especially crowded, and we had to duck and weave between the people that filled the aisle behind us. 

“Excuse me. Pardon me. So sorry,” we whispered as we wiggled our way back to our seats. 

Only after we had settled into our pew did we realize that everyone else had walked to the front, received communion, and kept going – out the side door, around the building, and back into the sanctuary. 

Burning heat started in my chest and rose to my ears. Sweat dampened my temples. A sideways glance at Les confirmed that he, too, had noticed our mistake. Fair-skinned and freckled, Les’ red face stood out like a Macintosh in a basket of Granny Smiths. We avoided making eye contact with anyone and escaped out the proper door as soon as the service was over. 

I’ve never again attended a church that ushered its congregants out the door and around the building after communion, but I read a passage in Ezekiel that bears an interesting parallel. 

Ezekiel the prophet had just finished describing the temple that will exist in Christ’s millennial kingdom. He gave its dimensions, described its furnishings, and, in words that made me homesick for Christ’s return, described how God Almighty will once again fill the temple with his presence. 

When he described how the Israelites would enter and exit the temple, he wrote this: 

"When the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed feasts, whoever enters by the north gate to worship is to go out the south gate; and whoever enters by the south gate is to go out the north gate. No one is to return through the gate by which he entered, but each is to go out the opposite gate” (Eze. 46:9). 

All of a sudden, it made sense – no one who comes into God’s presence leaves in the same way he came. 

Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

No one who truly encounters God comes away unchanged, without walking a different path than the one that led us to him. 

Listen to how the apostle Paul describes the transformation that occurs when we come face to face with Jesus and surrender our lives to him: 

“Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 

“And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:9-11). 

We can’t come into God’s presence and leave the same. 

What are the real-life implications of this truth? 

If you’ve prayed to receive Christ as Savior, you’ve confessed your sin, repented (been willing to change), and surrendered your life to God as best you know how, your life will begin to change. Christ cannot live inside of you without making you more like himself. 

Here are some of the changes you can expect: 

1. Your attitude about sin will change. 

Instead of enjoying ungodly actions with little or no guilt (unless you get caught or have to suffer the consequences), you’ll feel uncomfortable, guilty, or ashamed of your behavior. This was one of the first evidences of my salvation – I couldn’t sin without it bothering me. And though I felt sad about my sin, I also felt HAPPY, because this proved Christ was living in my heart. 

2. Your desires will change. 

You’ll feel distaste or a lack of desire for the sinful things you used to indulge in. I used to love prime-time soap-opera-type shows. After I became a Christian, I felt uncomfortable with much of the content. When I mentioned my feelings to my mentor, she explained that because Jesus now lived inside of me, his Spirit was reshaping my desires and causing me to hate what he hates. 

I also began to enjoy and crave the good things God wanted for me. I’d never had much of a desire to read the Bible, but now I did. I looked forward to going to church – not just to see my friends, but to worship with God’s people. Oddly enough, I even wanted to give to God’s work, a marked difference from my selfish tendencies to spend my money only when it benefited me. 

3. Your thinking will change. 

Instead of being ruled by me – what I wanted, what would advance my life, and what would make me feel good, I realized there were other people in the world who mattered, too. And that God might deserve some of my time, money, and effort. Little by little my self-centered thinking gave way to other- and God-centered thinking, completely reshaping my goals, values, and dreams. 

During this season of reflection, I encourage you to examine yourself. 

Has there been a time when you surrendered to the transforming work of God in your life? Change doesn’t happen overnight. Some areas of our lives take years to mature. But biblical salvation always involves acknowledging our sin, repenting of it (having a change of heart), and surrendering our lives for God to change them. 

If you haven’t yet come to the place of surrender and transformation, don’t wait another moment. Today is the day of salvation. 

Praying a prayer as simple as this, if it comes from a sincere heart, is all it takes to invite Christ into your heart and begin your new life: 

God, I know I am a sinner. I’ve done and thought things that displease you, and I’ve failed to do things I should have done. I repent of my sin and ask you to forgive me. I believe Christ died to take the penalty for my sin on the cross and rose again to prove that he alone is our Savior. Come into my heart and make me a new person. In Jesus’ name I ask, Amen. 

If you prayed this prayer and really meant it, the Bible has a promise for you: 

“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9). 

Today is the first day of your new life in Christ. Like the Israelites in Ezekiel’s temple, regardless of the path that brought you into God’s presence, you can leave through a different doorway. Your feet will walk a different path now. Your encounter with God has changed you. Welcome to God’s family. 

If you’ll leave your name in the comment section below, I’d love to pray for you. If you’re reading by email, CLICK HERE to visit Hungry for God online and leave a comment.


Dear Hungry for God friends,

I suspect there are quite a few busy women on your Christmas list. Friends, co-workers, fellow church members, and your children's teachers, coaches, and babysitters, to name a few.

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Do We Really Know God?

Have you ever thought you knew someone, only to discover you didn’t? 

I received a Facebook message the other day from a friend I’ll call Diane. She shared a prayer request for a mutual friend, mentioned a writers conference she was planning to attend, and asked me for information about a book I’d reviewed on my blog. 

I responded with the details she needed, but the whole time I was composing the message, a question kept niggling in my brain. Where do I know her from? I mentally scrolled through what I knew about her—she had a couple of grown kids, a cute Yorkie, was mutual friends with Pat and Jean, and had recently retired. 

But have I ever met her? 

I realized that even though I could rattle off quite a few facts about her life, I didn’t really know her. We might have attended the same conference. We shared a few friends, but all I knew about her I’ve gleaned from the occasional Facebook post that appeared in my news feed. I knew Diane, but I’d never met her. 

The Apostle Paul didn’t have Facebook, but he faced a similarly awkward situation. All his life he thought he knew God. Studied him. Knew a lot of details about his life. Read his book. Hung out with people who said they knew him. 

But he’d never met him. 

Listen to Paul’s own words: "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today” (Act. 22:3). 

But then the surprising message came: “Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?” 

Faced with the truth, Paul had to admit it—he didn’t really know the God he’d purported to know: “Who are you, Lord?” he cried. 

Blinded, horrified to discover that he’d been persecuting genuine followers of God, and overwhelmed by the knowledge that he’d missed the Messiah, he came face to face with the Savior. 

"I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.” 

Many people have a similar experience as Paul. They’ve grown up in religious homes. Read the Bible and perhaps even memorized it. They’ve attended church. Volunteered in the nursery. Given money. But they’ve never met Jesus. 

Paul realized what each of us must acknowledge—that Jesus is the Messiah, he died to take the punishment we deserve for sin, and he rose again to prove it was sufficient. Once Paul did, God’s instructions to him were clear: “Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name” (Act. 22:16). 

When I was 18 years old, I walked a church aisle, prayed a prayer, and shed a few tears. Like Paul, I’d learned about God, read his Word, and volunteered at church. I even put money in the offering plate. 

But I hadn’t met Jesus. 

Little by little, he revealed himself to me. Then, one day, he broke my heart over my sin. He helped me realize I’d been living my life my way and not doing a very good job of it. I confessed, repented, and trusted Jesus with my whole being—my past, my present, my future, and my eternity. 

Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “. . . if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new,” and it was true.

From that moment on, my life began to change. I knew Christ had come to live in my heart, because I had a changed attitude about sin. I could no wantonly longer ignore God’s principles. I found myself wanting to go to church because God was there, not to see and be seen. I felt myself drawn to read and study my Bible, and even though I was naturally introverted, I began to share what God was doing in my life with others. 

Paul experienced a similar life change. Then God gave him a life-changing assignment: “The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard” (Acts 22:14). 

Salvation is available to all, John 3:16 tells us, but “not everyone who says to (him), ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.” 

If you’re unsure of your relationship with Christ, ask yourself these three questions: 

1. What are you trusting in to get into heaven? A good life? Kind deeds? Charitable giving? Parents who know God? If your answer is anything but what Jesus did on the cross, you are trusting in a false gospel. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” 

2. Was there a moment in your life when you confessed your sin, repented (changed direction), and surrendered your life to God? Romans 10:9 promises, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” 

3. Has there been a change in your life since then? Are you becoming more like Christ? Christians aren’t sinless, but they should sin less. “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6). 

“Knowing” someone on Facebook but never meeting them is common in today’s society. So is knowing about God without ever meeting him. If this describes you, I pray you’ll surrender your life to him today. 

As Romans 10:11 says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 

Now it’s your turn. Was there a time in your life when you trusted in something other than Christ for your salvation? How did God open your eyes? Leave a comment below and share your story.

If you'd like to hear more details about how I began a relationship with God, check out this video. If you're reading by email and can't see the video, click HERE.

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