There is a reason that we are to seek God with all our hearts, soul, and spirit; we will find Him but only because He first sought us. We must have the eyes of our hearts opened and the door of faith by the Almighty Himself. (cf. Isaiah 65:1. King David exhorts us to "taste and see, that the LORD is good." (cf. Psalm 34:8). Once we do, we long to recapture the experience and make it our own We need to own Christ as our personal Lord. In other words, put out the fleece for God and put Him to the test as God invited it. Find out for yourself and don't go by second-hand knowledge but know first hand. Capture the rapture of knowing God in person.
It can be problematic trying to recapture that unforgettable encounter with god or even describe it to others. In a sense, it may be like chasing pots at the ends of mythical rainbows or some will-o-the-wisp. No one can adequately describe God in detail or define Him to our specs or even know Him exhaustively, but we can be content to know Him truly. God wants our faith to be a properly basic belief or one interwoven into our experience and one that cannot be taken away from us. It becomes a personal thing.
As Oswald Chambers said, that of maturity is not ecstasy but obedience, we must not base our assurance on our experience though but keep faith in God. Our own experience with God is unique and personal and we know what God means to us in our own experience This can be our own experience and differ from the individual. To know the loved of God that surpasses knowledge! But it is unforgettable and you associate it with something that remains in your mind and you long for it if you are deprived. No one has our unique experience and can relate to us in this way. The LORD is meant to be a heavenly experience but what doesn't mean we always walk on Cloud Nine or on some perpetual religious high as if everything is Pollyanna.
God is the source of all goodness and all the good we have comes from God, the Supreme Good, as Plato called Him. Without God's goodness, we couldn't know what goodness is, relate to it nor measure it. We want to experience the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living (cf. Psalm 27:13). Note that God is good to all in some ways and to some in always. (cf. Psalm 145:9). We all deserve a taste of heaven to know what to look forward to and in worship, we gain the experience of a personal encounter with God. For example, we all experience the love of God sometimes in life. But we must be careful not to seek the benefits without the Benefactor! To know God is to love him and this is what it's about: love in God. God's love reaches down to us in grace and we reach up to Him in worship. We thank our Provider for all His provisions. This is only a foretaste of glory in heaven and gives us all the more expectation and hope to live on in aspiration doing His will. Once we taste, we'll never "settle," we'll want Him and only Him.
God's goodness is shown in manifold ways: answers to prayer, freedom from fear, deliverance from enemies, protection from evil, healing of broken hearts, consolation in loss and grievance, encouragement in depression, comfort in trouble and pain, victory over sin, power over sin, provision of needs, the taste of glory, justification in condemnation, presence in loneliness, and healing of broken hearts. God promises that our afflictions will never overwhelm us or overcome us as we can pass through the fire and not be burned (cf. Isaiah 43:2).
Our Christian experience isn't just about the bye-and bye or hope in the future but in the here and now as we are called to live the more abundant life of flourishing in Christ as He prospers us and gives us success in all we do in His name and even provides the means and needs for them. Our eternal life doesn't begin in eternity but now upon salvation (cf.. John 3:36; 5:24). We learn on a daily basis what it means to experience the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living (cf. Psalm 27:13).
Our salvation is in three tenses: we are saved from the penalty of sin, we are being delivered from the power of sin, and we shall be delivered from the presence of sin. Our past is forgotten and forgiven, or present is given meaning, purpose, and fulfillment, and our future is secured! How much more could goodness be than that blessed hope and salvation? "How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?" (cf. Heb. 2:3). Soli Deo Gloria!
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