Where did you see God this last month? Where did you witness God’s power and presence over the last 30 days? What kind of evidence did you uncover that told you God was there with you?
My God-sightings this month have been so everyday and yet so very remarkable. Here are just a few:
- A 95-year-old man came to the Estate/Yard Sale I held a week ago. He was cheerful, independent, still easily driving himself around. He bought a huge chest freezer my parents had in their basement for years. After holding sides of beef from my Grandpa’s butcher shop, and countless fish and blueberries brought home from Canada, it still works. The man plans on storing plenty of food for a long time, in that freezer. As he spoke of his plans, I thought of how he trusted in God to give him an even longer life than he’d already enjoyed. The man surely wasn’t waiting to die; he was enjoying living. What a great outlook on life, and what a wonderful God-sighting to see someone of his age enjoying life so much!
- Northwestern Ontario is a place of natural beauty. It’s very remote. Traveling beyond the Trans-Canada Highway often means journeying on old logging roads—some of which are marginally maintained, others of which are not—local residents and hunters, avid fishermen and women do their best to keep the brush cleared out enough to allow pick-up trucks and SUV’s to get through. In the deep woods of Ontario, crystal clear lakes can be found. On those lakes we saw loons and Mallards and beavers. Just to the west of our cabins, the family could watch a bald eagle as it flew back and forth from the nest it constructed in the treetops along the shoreline. As we traveled from town to lakes deeper within the bush, we encountered a large black bear emerging from a creek. Each time we saw a beautiful vista or caught sight of a wild animal in all its grandeur, I thought of God and what an incredible world he’s given us in which to live. I thought of God, and what amazing creatures he’s fashioned. I thought of God, and the intricate and complex world he’s fashioned—one that has sustained and continues to sustain us for so long.
- My Mom’s older brother, George, is a “gamer.” He continues to take the annual pilgrimage to Canada because he loves to fish. Now in his 80’s, Uncle George will get into a boat and fish all day, despite the fact that he’s a bit hobbled, and his health is a bit compromised. What’s so wonderful to see is the way that his three sons and their families arrange their lives so he can go to Canada each year. Jay flies in from his home in Northern California. Jon and Joel and their wives and kids help make sure that he has a grand time. And they do all of this in a way that’s genuinely loving. They never give the impression that they’re inconvenienced. They aren’t impatient. They simply are there for him—checking in on him, helping him if he needs it, including him in all of the family events if he chooses to participate in them. In a world that often pushes older people to the sidelines, this family’s decided to do things differently. They’ve loved him into the center of the life of the family, and in so doing, have reminded those around them of the precious blessing of family and relationships which God has given to us.
Now that God sightings like these have been going on for a couple of months, perhaps you see some trends developing. For me, it seems that when we look for God in the midst of life, we’re more aware of God’s presence and power in so many moments of life. God is given the honor and thanks as events and actions in the world are now attributed to him each day. God is moving and changing, helping and healing, calling and blessing all the time.
It also would seem that looking for God, then seeing God and giving thanks to God can only serve to strengthen our relationship with God. As more of our world revolves around him we’re sure to reap the benefits from drawing closer to him.
Further, as it would appear that the most memorable of the God sightings are associated with the showing of compassion--be it something like my cousin’s wife sitting at my uncle’s table chatting with him as he munches away on the lunch she prepared for him, or a neighbor cutting down the broken limbs of an older neighbor’s big tree following a storm, or the driven construction work of volunteers on a Habitat for Humanity job site.
And the question comes to mind, “Are we being the kind of Christians Jesus needs us to be and God intended us to be, when we are showing compassion toward others? Is compassion the necessary ingredient that makes a Christian a Christian and a church a church?”
I’m thinking that that just might be the case. And if it is indeed the case, I’d like to encourage us in our lives, and in our life together, to make compassionate choices as we live and as we serve and as we develop ministries. I’d like us to do those things, large and small, that show that our lives are “governed” by a rule that says that when we make choices about the way we’ll live, those choices will be dictated by a desire to share a self-less, Christ-taught love with those around us. And we make those compassionate choices not out of a sense of duty or a desire to feel good about ourselves, but because Christ has taught us, by example to do so. We make those compassionate choices because doing so brings God honor, and should draw others—and all of us--closer to God.
Pastor Sharon