Because we are human and because we are creatures we have some things in common: the need to live for more than just the temporal, the need for vision, hope, and purpose, the need to have something worth dying for.
But because we are unique and because there has never been and there will never be another just like us, God deals with each of us in our own unique ways.
Therefore, when it comes to how people encounter and experience Jesus Christ, what works for me may not work for you, and what works for me now may not work for me in a later chapter in my life.
So then how can people grow closer to God?
What is it that makes you feel most alive? Once you discover that, make it your life's goal to do that with everything you've got because that's our spiritual worship. That's how we connect with God.
I love what John Ortberg writes about how God interacts with us in ways we need. He writes in his book, "The Me I Want to Be":
God had Abraham take a walk, Elijah take a nap, Joshua take a lap, and Adam take the rap.
He gave Moses a forty-year time out, he gave David a harp and a dance, and he gave Paul a pen and and scroll.
God wrestled with Jacob, argued with Job, whispered to Elijah, warned Cain, and comforted Hagar.
He gave Aaron an altar, Miriam a song, Gideon a fleece, Peter a name, and Elisha a mantle.
Jesus was stern with the rich young ruler, tender with the woman caught in adultery, patient with the disciples, blistering with the scribes, gentle with the children, and gracious with the thief on the cross.
God never grows two people the same way. God is a hand-crafter, not a mass-producer.
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