In our ordinary lives, we don’t always see God. We have to be intentionally looking. Maybe we can think of it as detective work, unraveling the mystery. How is an unseen God at work in our ordinary lives? The first disciples obeyed and trusted as they laid down their fishing nets, as they didn’t come home for supper. One of the best ways of seeing and knowing God is through prayer and spiritual discipline. Our faith is that vine, that rope that we grasp to pull ourselves out of the pit. The life of a Christian is difficult, and it is only in our faithful obedience that we gain any clues or insights. It is true of most Christians that in their hardships, God is particularly present. Our relationship with Him becomes more vibrant when we give Him our time and care about others – sometimes when we don’t feel like it.

There may be times when we wonder if God “goofed” when he gave us freedom of will. In doing so, we don’t always see His plans, His adjustments to our waywardness. He seems to let us “stew in our own juices”. It is hard for parents, and I imagine for our Heavenly Father, to watch us suffer from our bad choices. It is our journey. It is our soul’s quest to find Him, even as He has already found us. God has always known that he cannot twist our arms and compel and coerce us into following Him. Returning to the imagining of us as detectives, we pursue clues relentlessly. It is often when our minds are most quiet that we are able to “hear” clues in the voice of God. Prayer is more helpful when we are silent; not trying to “steer the conversation.”

In our times of greatest faith struggles, we might find God in the life and witness of a fellow brother or sister in Christ. When we cannot pray, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us in wordless sighs and breaths. We learn patience. Our failures and shortcomings need not, and will not, ultimately define us or condemn us. In I John we read that who we are is not completely known, but when Christ appears, we shall see him as he is and become like him. This is how God finds us. There is hope and salvation, even for the clinically depressed! It is in those depths of yearning for the living God that we grasp His hand. Be okay with the setbacks. As one who knows this all too well, do not berate yourself incessantly over your failures! You are good. You are also fallen. You are redeemable! Those three short sentences just might be words of help and encouragement to skeptics and seekers. God finds us where we are, stretches out His hand, and invites us to follow. He gave us the “breadcrumbs”, the clues to keep pondering and searching. On your pilgrimage through the barren wilderness, may you feel and experience His unconditional love. Read Romans 2:6-10.

Pastor Art