We often we find in our lives that God seems nowhere to be found. We cannot see Him, we cannot smell Him, we cannot taste Him or feel Him. Yet He is there. We know this because if we’re still for long enough we can feel the effects of Him working and moving in our lives. Jacob wrote, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” (Genesis 28:16) He is there… always present. He is at work. He is busy doing His God-sized projects.
A girl to be married was given the promise of a child. With risk of rejection, she raised her courage to tell the man to whom she was betrothed to be married. “The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you….Do not be afraid, you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.’”…His time had now come.
I often wonder at the tangled mess that makes up a person’s personality, character, quirks, expressions and interactions. What are the experiences that they have gone through, the pains they’ve felt, the joys they’ve shared, the tears they’ve cried, the passions they live for and the hurts they carry that cause them to be who they are. Finding out this information is like finding the keys to unlocking who someone really is-one finds out what really makes someone “tick” so to speak.
I was driving home the other night and it was pretty late. I noticed a U-Haul truck sitting outside the apartment building next to mine. I noticed a man who sat down on the back of the U-Haul truck looking discouraged and exhausted. I could really relate to him having just moved out east to New England from Chicago just six months ago. The whole process of moving is exhausting enough, but almost worse is the discouragement found from moving to a new part of the country where you know almost no one.
Every single morning you get up you get dressed. Most people spend a significant amount of time in front of the mirror every morning before going to school or work or to hang out with friends. You probably check yourself over before leaving your house every day to make sure you look good and there’s nothing wrong with what you’re wearing. But do you consider what attitude you’re wearing when you leave your home every morning?
He is the Father to those who hate their fathers. He is a dictator to those who refuse to be ruled or surrender. He is a lover to those who have been burned by love. To those who do not believe in the unseen, He is unseen. To those who are blind, He is visible. To those who are wise, He is foolishness. Yet to those who are foolish, He presents Himself as wisdom and understanding. To those who would pray to false gods, He reveals their fabrication. To those who say that He is not there, He is present. For those who spread falsehood and lies, He is truth and honesty. To those who are judgmental, He is merciful and full of grace. To those who shake their fists demanding God give an answer, He is silent and does not respond.
It seems most of us are so fond of our small pleasures in life that we have developed stomachs that would rather munch on cheap candies even though we are offered the chance to eat at a rich and elegant gourmet feast. If you find yourself sitting in church thinking about the football game you’d like to be watching, or wondering when Bible study will be over so that you can watch that new movie you want to see…
I remember when I first became a Christian, I was bumping heads with all kinds of people. I had a passion for Christ and I wanted to let everyone know the truth and what they needed to change their life and make themselves right with God. I was on fire for the Lord but I had no sense of how to handle this new found life, energy and passion in my soul. I had no idea how to love others in Christ, I had no sense of listening, offering grace and mercy or just praying for those who did not want to listen to the Gospel.
I knew I was going to be late for my train if I didn’t move quicker. I passed a man who had a loudspeaker telling people they were going to hell. Without pause, I kept walking; he was always on the same street. Many city blocks later, two men were trying to hand me a tract asking me if I had Jesus. They weren’t always there. I figured I had probably already missed my train, so I stopped to talk to them. I found out they were from Milwaukee and were down here in Chicago trying do some “outreach.”
She walked in and sat down in her class room. Then the unthinkable happened. A boy she hardly knew burst into her classroom with a gun. He presses it to her head and asks her, “Do you believe in God?” I’m sure the question rang through her ears, as all sounds and thoughts came to a screeching halt jammed up into that moment, she responded, “Yes, I believe in God.” She lost her life for those few words. But there was something that she realized. She knew that when God is on the throne she had no reason to fear the cost or consequence of trusting in Him.