“One fall evening, around six o’clock, I was driving back to work for a meeting. Heading north on a country road, my mind lost in some events of the day, I became aware of an obscured light over my left shoulder. About that time, I turned west and was instantly blinded by the source.

Before me blazed the most brilliant, startling sunset. The sun was a huge, fiery red ball—almost eerie in size. It overwhelmed the horizon, looking as though I was going to drive right into it. Blushing pigments bled through the sky in either direction. It was such a dramatic sight; I think I gasped aloud.

Overcome by the landscape before me, my heart lifted in this moment of spontaneous worship. I lingered, my breath suspended. Then God whispered this thought to my mind: ‘I’m bigger…. than ALL of this.’” (The Wide Open Spaces of God, pg. 22)

Though this experience took place a number of years ago, I can still recall the consolation I felt as I gathered those words and clutched them to my breast. At the time, my heart was overwhelmed with pain. I was going through one of the most awful experiences of my life, having become the object of some barbed and unrelenting personal attacks. The anguish I felt was inexpressible, my own version of the Garden of Gethsemane.

God’s whisper met me with deep and profound comfort. He offered hope and perspective as he placed my troubles in the larger context of his power and purposes. God reminded me that he is bigger and more encompassing than anything I might face on this earth—and here was the confirmation, in this beautiful sunset epiphany.

Over the next several months, I held on to those words. For a long time, I could return in my mind to a clear and distinct picture of that sunset and recall God’s consolation all over again as if it had just been spoken. It was a resurrection moment that lingered for a very long time and a premonition that God was inviting me to explore a bigger life with him, one that I began to refer to as “the wide open spaces of God.”

Join the Conversation

As you reflect on your life, has God given you a recent “epiphany?” A sudden intuitive realization of his presence and purposes, perhaps through an ordinary but striking incident?  How might this be a resurrection moment for you?

Beth Booram: Beth Booram has been a lifelong vocational minister in parachurch and local church settings, both mainline and nondenominational. She is an author, spiritual director and healing prayer practitioner, as well as a congregational consultant. She speaks around the country at conferences and retreats on topics related to spiritual formation and Christian leadership. Beth understands the issues that confound many people today and offers a message that is authentic and original; absent of clichés and formulas, while full of wisdom and insight. She is a disarming communicator who draws from a deep reservoir of compassion through her own healing journey and profound encounter with Christ. Beth's presentations are highly creative, often utilizing artistic elements, contemplative exercises, and engaging interaction. Her next book, Awaken Your Senses: Exercises for Exploring the Wonder of God will be released in February with InterVarsity Press. Beth has also written The Wide Open Spaces of God (Abingdon Press, 2007) and Picturing the Face of Jesus (Abingdon Press/April, 2009).