Walking in the Presence

It seems that I am meeting people all the time who have an incredible story about how God is active and working in everything in their lives. It doesn't matter what happens, they are experiencing God, seeing God, at every turn. And their faith builds every day. And it should!

But I also know people who strive to have just one experience like this and never fully find it. They trust God, believe Christ, look for him in all they do but never see. I think this is true for most of us. We see the results of God's hand at work, but never see who did it. It's kind of like getting up on Christmas morning and seeing the presents under the tree. You know they weren't there the night before and so someone had to place them there during the night. If only we could have seen...

Jacob was one of those people. He saw God on numerous occasions. It seems that when he went anywhere he was meeting with God, seeing God, having a dream about God, and he walked with a limp because of them! How awesome is that?

So what is with people like Jacob? Is there something about them that draws these vision and experiences? Are they special? Well, the answer is yes, sort of.

First of all I believe that we all have the potential to be like Jacob. God is present in all of our lives in the same measure as he was in Jacob's, so that sets the potential. Second, we have to learn to be in the right place at the right time. Now this isn't nearly as easy to pull off, because we don't always know where or when! So many times this may be left up to chance, but then again maybe it's not so random...

The right place and the right time are actually the places we ought to be. That is when we begin to "dance" with God by being in God's will, then the right place and the right time can happen much more frequently. How do we get in the will of God? By being in constant communication! The more we communicate with God, the more we will be doing what God wants us to do, being where God wants us to be, seeing what God wants us to see. If we want to be where the action is , we have to get in the chain of communication!

Lastly, if we want to experience God like Jacob we have to expect it! That's right, simple expectation. How many times during the day do you expect to see or experience God? This is the greatest problem for Christians today, we don't expect to see our prayers answered or for God to show up. And it leaves us wondering of God is available, or present, or even cares? It's where the great poem Footprints comes from, someone who didn't expect to see God, so missed Him for the entire journey! In some ways that poem is sad, because it doesn't have to be that way.

God wants us to experience Him. And we can if we begin expecting it. Expectations make all the difference, because we usually get exactly what we expect to get. If we expect to be disappointed, we will be. If we expect to be joyful, we are. If we expect to miss God, we'll be too late. But if we truly expect God to show up...

...we might just walk with a limp the rest of our lives!

And that's okay with me!

Peace ><>
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