He's already there.

My God is the God who goes before!  He was, is, and always will be!  Before I took a breath He was already there from eternity.  This truth hits my prayers and my heart almost daily.   Over the last years I've noticed in my life how those of us who've grown up in Christian culture have tried to control, manipulate and force the Presence of God to only be in a certain building, on a specific day and work in a certain way.  We've  even elevated and exalted "full-time, career missionaries" and  thought them to be more holy than the man who works quietly and shares Jesus as a salesman, or the Mom who feels that all she does is clean babies and house, but prays fervently in  her heart in the middle of the mess. Is God only confined to the things we've labeled sacred? Can He be found in the very ordinary, 'secular' things of life?

The life I live reminds me that God is already there and He invites me to step in and up to where He is working. When I wake up on a very snowy morning and look out my window thinking about how I want to go lay on a beach, I lift my eyes higher to see God in the beauty of the snow on the trees.  I start singing my own cover of Elvis' "Can't Help Falling In Love" (knowing full well it's not a 'worship' song or a hymn), but hear it as if Jesus was singing it to me and KNOW in the sacredness of that moment that I am LOVED.   A Youth visits me in  my office or I start a conversation at the Drop In and I whisper in my heart, "God, show me where You already are moving in him or her'" and He's there!  I hear Joe Cocker's "With a Little Help From My Friends" being sung by a student to a friend who is hurting and I am convinced that these moments are more than just wasted and worldly.  I sit at a clay cafe,  grab paper and markers, listen to their music playlists,  hear  them learn musical instruments,  pass out  xbox controllers,  play with photo filters and learn about skateboards  all so I can become aware of how God uses these ordinary things to show up in the lives of us. I am becoming more and more aware of God's real presence in the world. I see Him in Creation, in laughter, in tears, in songs and art.  This is where the sacred and secular meet...or maybe it's just all sacred?  Never too dark, not too limited, not too closed to the awesome Presence of a God who is always moving and showing us that He is REAL!


So what am I saying?  Find Him in form and traditions, in the classic beautiful hymns and always in the Holy Scriptures. Find Him in the structure and organized way of worship.  Please look for Him too in the giggle of a baby, the glimpse of the moon or even the creative expression of a lost Youth...because He is there too!  He is there in the life of a faithful pastor or missionary who has served Him well! Don't forget though He can be just as real and present on a construction site, an Ag farm or even behind the counter of your favorite cafe counter in a worker who is just as faithful.  He is already there moving!  He's just looking for those whose eyes are open and know exactly where He's at work.

He's already there...do YOU see Him?