Encountering God

Some things shout for our attention.

A breaking headline. A crisis text. A calendar alert. A diagnosis. A bill. A deadline. A conflict at home. A quiet fear we do not even know how to name.

But God often does not work that way.

He is not absent. He is not indifferent. He is not waiting for life to calm down before He shows up. He is already at work. In the ordinary. In the hidden places. In the moments that feel small. In the interruptions. In the need we cannot solve. In the prayer we almost did not pray. In the conversation we did not plan to have. In the ache that makes us finally look up.

That is the heartbeat of our new series, Encountering God: Hiding in Plain Sight.

Across the stories of Elijah and Elisha, we will see a God who moves in both the natural and the supernatural. He sends rain. He multiplies oil. He raises the dead. He confronts idols. He speaks in whispers. He opens blind eyes. He exposes what is false and heals what is broken. Again and again, God reveals that His power is not confined to the dramatic. His presence is not limited to mountaintop moments. He is near. He is active. He is still making Himself known.

And when we truly encounter Him, something changes in us.

We begin to count on God.

That matters more than ever. Many of us know what it feels like to keep going while quietly running on empty. We know how to manage schedules, hold conversations, solve problems, and still carry a low-grade exhaustion in our souls. We may believe God exists, but we do not always live expecting Him to move. We pray, but sometimes without confidence. We worship, but sometimes distracted. We hope, but with hesitation. We do not deny God. We just stop looking for Him in the places we assume are too messy, too practical, too ordinary, or too late.

Yet Scripture keeps telling a different story.

In 1 Kings 17, a widow is preparing for death. Her resources are gone. Her options are over. And God meets her there. Not first with abundance, but with an invitation to trust. Faith does not begin when everything is secure. Faith begins when we choose to believe God is telling the truth, even before we can see how the story will turn out. New life is rooted in faith because faith opens our hands to receive what only God can do. For some of us, that first week may hit close to home. Maybe life feels thin. Maybe you have reached the edge of your own ability. Maybe what you need most is not a bigger plan, but a deeper trust that God has not forgotten you.

Then the story shifts to Mount Carmel. Elijah confronts the prophets of Baal and asks a piercing question: How long will you waver between two opinions? It is a question about loyalty, but also love. We all worship something. Not always with songs or statues, but with attention, dependence, sacrifice, and trust. We build our lives around whatever we believe will save us, secure us, or satisfy us. Success can become an idol. Comfort can become an idol. Approval can become an idol. Control can become an idol. Even good gifts can become disordered loves when they take the place only God should hold. Encountering God means letting Him reorder our hearts. It means asking what has been shaping our decisions, our moods, our spending, our relationships, and our identity. It means allowing the fire of God’s truth to fall on what is false so our hearts can become whole again.

But this series is not only for moments of boldness. It is also for moments of doubt.

In 1 Kings 19, Elijah moves from a public victory to private collapse. He is afraid. He is depleted. He feels alone. He wants to give up. That part of the story feels painfully familiar. There are people who can look strong in public and still feel worn out in private. There are parents who keep carrying the load while wondering how much more they have in them. There are men and women who love God and still battle anxiety, disappointment, and spiritual fatigue. Elijah’s story reminds us that despair does not disqualify us from the presence of God. The Lord meets him in weakness, not shame. He provides rest, food, and gentle direction. Then He speaks—not in the wind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire, but in a whisper. Sometimes the encounter we need is not louder. It is closer. God knows how to meet weary people without crushing them.

From there, the series moves into calling and commitment. Elisha is invited into a new life, and his response is decisive. A called life is not merely a life with potential. It is a life surrendered to purpose. God’s call is not reserved for the unusually spiritual. It is an invitation to ordinary people to live with holy direction. That matters for every person trying to figure out what faith looks like on a Tuesday afternoon. Your life is not random. Your work, your home, your relationships, your neighborhood, your gifts—none of it is outside the reach of God’s calling. Encountering God does not pull us out of real life; it sends us back into it with clarity, courage, and commitment.

As the series continues, we begin to view the ministry of Elisha through the lens of the good news Jesus later announces in Luke 4: good news for the poor, freedom for the prisoner, recovery of sight for the blind, and release for the oppressed. That connection is powerful because it reminds us that these ancient stories are not isolated miracles. They are signs of the kind of kingdom God brings near.

When the oil is multiplied for a desperate widow in 2 Kings 4, we see a God who cares about the vulnerable and steps into practical need. This is not abstract compassion. It is provision. It is dignity. It is relief for someone on the edge. Some people carry financial stress like a constant pressure in the chest. Others feel embarrassed by their need, as though faith means pretending everything is fine. But God’s kingdom speaks good news to the poor. He is not repelled by need. He moves toward it. He is able to provide in ways we do not expect, and He also teaches His people to become part of that provision for one another.

When life returns to the dead in 2 Kings 4, we are confronted with the kind of power only God possesses. God does not merely improve what is weak. He brings life where there was none. There are places in us that can feel dead too—hope that has gone quiet, marriages under strain, prayers that feel unanswered, dreams we buried long ago, habits that seem impossible to break. The gospel does not offer a little inspiration for mostly self-sufficient people. It announces resurrection power. Freedom for the prisoner. Life for what feels lost. The God we encounter is able to restore what we assumed was beyond repair.

Then Naaman enters the story in 2 Kings 5—a powerful man with a deep need. He wants healing, but he almost misses it because he expects God to work on his terms. Pride often keeps us from simple obedience. We want a dramatic solution, a customized path, a method that protects our ego. Yet God’s grace sometimes comes in humble instructions that require us to lay down our self-importance. To be cleansed and set free, Naaman must trust the word of God enough to obey it. That is true for us too. Freedom is not found in managing appearances. It is found in surrender.

And then the story takes a sharp turn. Gehazi wants the blessing of God without the holiness of God. He reaches for gain, manipulates the moment, and ends up cursed by the very greed he tried to hide. This part of the series matters because it exposes how easily a heart can drift even while standing near sacred things. Proximity to ministry is not the same as intimacy with God. Religious activity is not the same as transformed character. God is not only interested in the miracles around us. He is also concerned with the motives within us. Encountering God means letting Him search us, purify us, and free us from the corrosion of secret compromise.

Finally, in 2 Kings 6, sight is given to the blind. Elisha’s servant is terrified by what he can see, but blind to what is also true. Then God opens his eyes. Suddenly, the mountain is full of horses and chariots of fire. Heaven was not absent before. It was simply unseen. That may be one of the most comforting pictures in the whole series. We often interpret reality by what is immediately visible: the obstacle, the diagnosis, the opposition, the conflict, the uncertainty. But there is more going on than we can see. God is present. God is active. God is able. Sometimes the encounter we need is not a change in circumstance first, but a change in sight.

This is why Encountering God: Hiding in Plain Sight matters so much.

Because many people are not looking for more religious information. They are looking for a reason to hope that God is real in the middle of real life.

They are wondering whether faith speaks to anxiety, exhaustion, parenting, work pressure, relational tension, financial strain, secret shame, and deep disappointment.

They are asking whether God still moves. Whether prayer matters. Whether Scripture is alive. Whether ordinary people can actually experience the presence and power of God.

This series answers with a steady, hopeful yes.

Not because life becomes easy. Not because every problem disappears on demand. But because God is present in both the natural and the supernatural. He is at work in the seen and the unseen. He is not hiding because He is distant. He is hiding in plain sight because we have learned to look past the places where He loves to reveal Himself.

So how do we prepare for a series like this?

We come honest.

We bring our doubts into the light instead of dressing them up.

We name our idols instead of protecting them.

We admit our need instead of minimizing it.

We ask God to open our eyes instead of assuming we already see clearly.

We choose expectancy over cynicism.

We show up ready, not because we can manufacture an encounter, but because God

delights to make Himself known to people who seek Him.

Maybe that next step for you is simple. Come each week with one prayer: God, help me see You. Maybe it is opening your Bible again with fresh attention. Maybe it is bringing your family and talking afterward about where you noticed God in the message. Maybe it is inviting a friend who needs hope but would never respond to pressure. or finally trusting Jesus, not just admiring Him from a distance. Take a step into worship, connection, generosity, or living sent. Encountering God always moves us toward response.

At Mountain Ridge, we believe Jesus changes everything. We believe faith makes life better—not easier in every moment, but fuller, steadier, more grounded in truth and hope. We believe you belong here, even if you are unsure, weary, skeptical, or starting over. We believe relationships matter, and we are better together. We believe God is for you, and because of that, this series is not about performance. It is about transformation.

Encountering God leads us to count on God.

What would change if you really believed God was at work around you right now?

What might happen in your home if you expected His presence there?

How might your fear loosen its grip if you counted on His power?

How might your daily routines become holy ground if you believed He was hiding in plain sight?

Let’s pay attention.

Let’s bring our ordinary lives before an extraordinary God.

And let’s trust that as we encounter Him, we will not leave the same.

He is nearer than you think.

He is stronger than you know.

He is already at work.

Come ready to see Him.

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