Seeing God in the Ordinary
God can be discovered in the everyday moments of our lives. He kn owe us and walks with us.
Psalm 139:
1 Lord, you have seen what is in my heart.
You know all about me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I get up.
You know what I’m thinking even though you are far away.
3 You know when I go out to work and when I come back home.
You know exactly how I live.
4 Lord, even before I speak a word,
you know all about it.
5 You are all around me. You are behind me and in front of me.
You hold me in your power.
6 I’m amazed at how well you know me.
It’s more than I can understand.
7 How can I get away from your Spirit?
Where can I go to escape from you?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there.
If I lie down in the deepest parts of the earth, you are also there.
9 Suppose I were to rise with the sun in the east
and then cross over to the west where it sinks into the ocean.
10 Your hand would always be there to guide me.
Your right hand would still be holding me close.
11 Suppose I were to say, “I’m sure the darkness will hide me.
The light around me will become as dark as night.”
12 Even that darkness would not be dark to you.
The night would shine like the day,
because darkness is like light to you.
13 You created the deepest parts of my being.
You put me together inside my mother’s body.
14 How you made me is amazing and wonderful.
I praise you for that.
What you have done is wonderful.
I know that very well.
15 None of my bones was hidden from you
when you made me inside my mother’s body.
That place was as dark as the deepest parts of the earth.
When you were putting me together there,
16 your eyes saw my body even before it was formed.
You planned how many days I would live.
You wrote down the number of them in your book
before I had lived through even one of them.
17 God, your thoughts about me are priceless.
No one can possibly add them all up.
18 If I could count them,
they would be more than the grains of sand.
If I were to fall asleep counting and then wake up,
you would still be there with me.
19 God, I wish you would kill the people who are evil!
I wish those murderers would get away from me!
20 They are your enemies. They misuse your name.
They misuse it for their own evil purposes.
21 Lord, I really hate those who hate you!
I really hate those who rise up against you!
22 I have nothing but hatred for them.
I consider them to be my enemies.
23 God, see what is in my heart.
Know what is there.
Put me to the test.
Know what I’m thinking.
24 See if there’s anything in my life you don’t like.
Help me live in the way that is always right.
In Georges Bernanos’ classic French novel, The Diary of a Country Priest, ends with the painful death from stomach cancer of the decent young curate – the country priest of the title. Through his difficult life, as recounted for us in his journal, he appears as a beacon in a dark and dangerous world. As he lies dying, we are forced to wonder at the harshness of his struggle. He can no longer keep his diary. Another priest has been called to perform the last rites, but has not yet arrived. We discover the fate – and the wisdom of the curate through a letter written by the friend who was with him at the very end:
“The priest was still on his way, and finally I was bound to voice my regret that such delay threatened to deprive my comrade of the final consolations of our church. He did not seem to hear me. But a few moments later, he put his hand over mine and his eyes entreated me to draw closer to him. He then uttered these words almost in my ear. And I am quite sure I have recorded them accurately, for his voice, though halting, was strangely distinct. “Does it matter? Grace is everywhere….” I think he died just then….(Micheal Frost: Seeing God in the Ordinary, Hendrikson Press)
Grace is everywhere around us – the question is, are we noticing or are our ‘eyes wide shut’?
God at work all the time – in the words of Dallas Willard, He is always at play throughout the earth – but often His grace goes unnoticed. In a cartoon strip a character is shown kneeling to pray, saying to God, “It’s not easy to believe in you, God. We never see you. How come you never show yourself? How do we know you even exist?”
At this point a flower springs to life next to him and a volcano erupts in the distance. An eclipse of the sun turns the sky back and a star shoots across the stratosphere. A tidal wave crashes over him, lightning cracks, a bush begins to burn, a stone rolls away from the entrance of a tomb. He pulls himself from the mud, dripping wet, surrounded by darkness, as stars die light years away.
“Okay, okay…” he mumbles. “I give up. Every time I bring up this subject, all we get is interruptions”.
‘We have locked God into the so called sacred realms of church and healings and miracles and marvels….we seem to be trying so hard to “bring down fire from heaven” in our worship services while all along God’s favour is to be found in sunshine on our faces, the sea lapping at our toes, picking our children up at school, or a note from a caring friend”– Michael Frost
God can reveal himself to us through creation - “We are here to abet creation and to witness it, to notice each thing so each thing gets noticed. Together, we notice not only the mountain shadow and each stone on the beach, but we notice each other’s beautiful face and complex nature so that creation need not play to an empty house” – Annie Dillard
God can reveal himself to us through relationships – C S Lewis taught that each one of us reveals a facet of the beauty of God that nobody else can see or reveal.
God can reveal himself to us through ‘coincidence’
“Many things occur between God and humanity which escape the attention of even those to whom they happen” – Rabbi Heschel
Some call these events serendipity. Obviously the ultimate breakthrough of God into our time space world is the Calvary event; but He continues to interact and engage with us in serendipitous moments, which may not necessary be dramatic or miraculous. These could be:
- The “chance” meeting with someone that turned out to be a “divine appointment”
- The sermon or reading from Scripture that just seemed to speak directly into our situation right now
- The “timely” word of encouragement that brings refreshing and strength to us
Let’s live with our hearts open…..now. In The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis challenges us to take hold of that which is all that we have – the now. “The present is the point which touches eternity…the Future is, of all things, least like eternity…nearly all vices are rooted in the Future. Gratitude looks to the Past and love to the Present. Fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead. God enemies want a whole race perpetually in pursuit of the Rainbow’s end, never honest, not kind, nor happy now”.