How I enjoyed teaching the Bible Station sessions at our church’s Vacation Bible School last week. It is no easy task to teach children all morning long, but the rewards are rich. Their faith is simple, their hearts open. One boy, about 9 years of age, delighted me with his honesty. I taught from Psalm 139 the truth that God knows the very thoughts inside of our brain. When asked how he felt about that fact he said, “I don’t like it. It is an invasion of my privacy!”
The children were encouraged to report “God sightings” every day. The idea is that they would become more aware of the Spirit. Not a bad idea, right? Their responses include the ordinary stuff of life - “My puppy sat with me while I watched TV.” “I saw a pretty cloud in the sky.” “My Grandma got better after being sick.” Are those incidents of God at work or are they just ‘life?’ Truth is – God’s Presence is in evidence all around us, even in the ordinary, and we do well to learn gratitude for the simple blessings.
We need to pray for an awareness of God’s Presence, faith to see Him at work, in our lives. We do not have to become gullible or foolish, but we do need the heart of a child. Listen to a story from the Gospel of Mark. "One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them!
For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” (Mark 10:13-15, NLT) We can become so ‘adult’ that we will miss the moment when the Spirit of God whispers His Presence.
Does God only show up in rainbows, butterflies, in the church sanctuary, or in a baby’s smile? Of course not. He is also found in the face of a homeless man, present in our greatest sorrows, and at work in our moments of trials.
God is Omnipresent but not always perceived!
He is working in the world and in us but sometimes outside of our vision because we simply do not look up, take it in, and become a part of what He is doing. I have one huge regret from the first 40 years of my life- an obsession with checking off the tasks on the urgent list of ‘to do’s' caused me to miss out on so many of life's miracles. My face was often so close to the task, I was oblivious to the wonder happening around me.
With this realization, I am becoming less eager to 'finish a job' and instead I desire to know what God is doing, to understand the stories that are waiting to be discovered, to see God at work in the lives of people with whom I work and live and love. In learning to be a little more flexible, I am finding more wonder, greater joy. And I confess that old habits die hard! I still can get so goal oriented I forget the joy of the journey. God teach us to wait on you!
John tells us about some people committed to their pre-conceptions, gripped by their ideas about what God wanted. They were blind to the ‘kingdom of God’ however! They missed a miracle that happened right in front of their eyes.
"Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed— lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew how long he had been ill, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”
“I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am trying to get there, someone else always gets in ahead of me.” Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your sleeping mat, and walk!”
Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up the mat and began walking! What an amazing development, a cause for celebration and rejoicing, right? After 38 years a man is walking, whole, on his feet! You would think that everybody who saw him would be infected with his joy, overcome with his excitement. And you would be wrong! Read on - “But this miracle happened on the Sabbath day. So, the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! It’s illegal to carry that sleeping mat!” He replied, “The man who healed me said to me, ‘Pick up your sleeping mat and walk.’”
“Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded. The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so, stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.”" (John 5:2-14, NLT)
Do you see the miracles of life and love that God is doing or are you so religious that you, like those ancient Pharisees, are robbed of wonder. They didn't see a man just healed after 38 years of being crippled. They only saw a man carrying his bedroll in violation of their religious traditions!
That was not the only time in Jesus' life when He ran into people who missed the miracle. In the 12th chapter of Matthew, we are told that he healed a man with a deformed hand. There, too, the Pharisees only saw that He did it on the Sabbath, in violation of their prohibition against doing 'work,' so instead of rejoicing that a man was healed, they "discussed plan to kill Jesus."
Yes, that is how easy it is to miss the miracle when we're consumed by our own pre-conceived ideas. I've missed my share of miracles, too, because I was focused on my plans, my ideas, my needs and unwilling to enter into the experience of another person in a way that let me feel their wonder, share their joy (or sorrow), or see what God was really doing in and/or through them.
Today, the God of wonder is at work! And He will be working in your neighborhood, and mine, too. The question is, will we perceive His work? Will we rejoice with those in whom He is working?
Here's a word from the Word. It is Jesus' own words of frustration with those who could not, would not, see what He was doing. “What are the people of this day like? They are like children playing in the center of town where people gather. They call to their friends. They say, ‘We played music for you, but you did not dance. We showed sorrow in front of you, but you did not show sorrow.’ 18 John came and did not eat or drink. They said, ‘He has a demon.’ Then the Son of Man came and ate and drank. They said, ‘See! He eats too much and likes wine. He is a friend of men who gather taxes and of sinners!’ But wisdom shows itself to be right by what it does.”
Then He began to say strong words against the cities where most of His powerful works were done. He spoke to them because they were not sorry for their sins and did not turn from them.” (Matthew 11:16-23 NLT)
Let these words challenge you to celebrate the wonder, to
open your eyes to the miracles of the hand of God who is here, now!
- Watch for God!
- Listen for the blowing of the Wind.
- Be still enough to hear the whispers of the Spirit.
- Keep an open heart that experience the Kingdom (under the rule) of God!
Amen
