Lenten Devotional: March 13, 2015
by Carla Dennis
When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen. When you come looking for me, you’ll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed. (Jeremiah 29:13-14 of the Message)
I have a black eye. Two nights ago, Matthew climbed into my bed as he often does during the middle of the night when Joe and I are sleeping. Usually, I don’t even realize he’s in bed unless he starts playing with my hair. However, the other night, in the wee hours of the morning, Matthew picked up his head to readjust it on my pillow and ended up head-butting me with force. I immediately awakened – in pain – and let out some choice words. Matthew remained asleep, but the end result for me was a nice shiner above my right eye.
Since the building committee began meeting nearly two years ago, we often share “God moments” and how we’ve seen God in action in the last week. God moments are feelings that we’ve experienced something that touched us within, and we became aware of God’s presence in the world. Now, by using the term “God moments,” I’m not trying to infer that God only shows up once a week for the purpose of making a positive difference in our lives, nor am I inferring that the head-butt I received from Matthew was in any way a God moment. Simply, God is everywhere at all times for all creatures, only usually we are too dense or too focused on ourselves, or our priorities, to notice. Therefore, sometimes we need to be spiritually awakened (or smacked upside the head) in order to give God our attention and to be able to see God’s constant presence.
Since God is not waiting to drop in when we least expect it for our personal benefit, but rather is always there because of God’s love for us, how can we become better aware of God’s presence and work at hand? The answer is simple – God is as present as we allow God to be. God moments happen each and every moment of the day if we open our hearts to them, and when we do, it allows us to have a closer and more meaningful relationship with God.
I asked my kids where they saw God today. Matthew said, “up in the sky.” Jackson stated, “in my heart,” and Jaydon answered, “everywhere.” But as we grow older, our ability to see God daily becomes less. We might see the extraordinary God moments, but miss the ordinary God moments – the smile of a stranger, the laughter of a child, the stars in the sky, the raindrops on our windows – as we shift our focus towards the craziness of our day-to-day activities.
During the last week, I’ve seen so many wonderful spring break pictures on Facebook from fellow church members. In times of rest and relaxation, it is certainly easier to feel God’s presence. So how do we find God in something that’s not as obvious as a beautiful sunrise or the waves on the beach? Truly, there is no shortage of God moments. Every moment can be a God moment if we let them, as God is continuously at work in and around our lives daily.
Find time to regularly embrace God moments – not only those that are special moments of awakening — but those that might on the surface seem mundane. Where was God at work at the grocery store? During dinner? While at the gas station? What hidden treasures of God’s presence did you uncover today? Was it the uniqueness of your fingerprint or the amazing redundancy of the human body? Was it a productive work meeting or a kind word by a colleague? Perhaps you saw God at work in your partner or in the face of a man asking for money on the corner of Milledge and Prince trying to collect enough to purchase his next meal. Wherever you look, God’s waiting, and you won’t be disappointed.
Prayer: Dear God. Thank you for the work you are perpetually doing in my life. Keep me constantly aware of your presence, and help me seek out your wonders in my day-to-day life. Please let me take nothing for granted and turn my heart towards finding you in the smallest of life’s details.