My Encounter with God at Passion 2012

Normally, I would write a recap of the amazing things happening in Atlanta at Passion 2012 on this third day of the conference spearheaded by Louie and Shelley Giglio. And amazing things have certainly happened as Scripture was read, worship was engaged, and attendees were educated on the realities of the modern day sex trafficking trade, but today I have a different story to tell.

I was late walking to the Georgia Dome this morning and missed what I was sure would be the not-to-be missed event of the conference: the last performance ever for the David Crowder*Band. The speakers have been talking for the past couple of days about Jesus intersecting in our lives. Well, when I woke up this morning, I did not think He was intersecting with mine.

The hotel I was staying in lost electricity sometime in the early morning hours, and I awoke to not only no lights but to an ice-cold shower. Not tepid, not cold, I am talking frigid. As there was no electricity, we also had no internet; so, even with my computer on a backup battery, I could not check email, file a story, or do any of the other electronically enabled activities that have become a part of my morning routine, forcing me to stop at a hot spot on the way to the Dome to get a few things done. To top it all off, the hotel had made a mistake on my reservation, and I had been double billed for my room. I spent 45 minutes at the front desk rectifying the situation.

This was why I was late and why I had begun to think on my solo walk that maybe Jesus had forgotten about me while He was intersecting with the 45,000 college-aged students who were attending the Passion 2012 conference.

But that's the thing about God. He never forgets. He never gets too busy. He's always on task in perfecting our relationship with Him. So, if for only a minute, I thought He had abandoned me, He quickly showed me otherwise.

I was still a good four blocks from the Dome, at the edge of Centennial Olympic Park, when I heard the sounds of worship. At first I thought it was a piped recording coming from one of the restaurants next to the CNN Center. I mentally questioned why a bar and grill would be pumping Christian praise into the streets, but I thought maybe it was in consideration of the business Passion 2012 had brought to this little area of the city. I quickly realized it was not coming from the restaurant. I really wasn't sure where it was coming from but surmised it had to be coming from the Dome. As I walked closer, I soon realized that's exactly where it was coming from.

The sound of 45,000 voices praising God was literally being released through the roof of the Georgia Dome into the atmosphere above Atlanta. I was being surrounded by praise, and God inhabits the praise of His people. I couldn't see a face, couldn't see a band, I could only hear the voices like a massive choir. It wasn't even possible to determine the direction from which the sound was coming; it just permeated the very air around me. It warmed me like a massive hug from God.

All I could think of was how this must be just a tiny, tiny sliver of what it will be like when we get to heaven and are all praising God with one accord. It was one of the truly amazing encounters in my life. I knew in that moment that God had not forgotten me, but I also realized there was something I had forgotten.

This experience was the embodiment of the message that has been the underlying theme of every Passion Conference. It is not about any speaker, it is not about any band, it is all about Jesus.

I may have missed David Crowder, but God showed me His Glory.

How blessed am I?