Recently I’ve seen Jesus in the hug between friends, the attention of a dad towards his son, the food shared among friends, the singing of a worship song, the laughter of a child, the scampering of a squirrel among leaves, the funny chatter of birds in the trees and along the way, Jesus is reminding me that he is present. We don’t have to invite his presence – he is here, among us, within us.
A sentence from Anne Lamott stood out as I was reading … “when you pray, you are not starting the conversation from scratch, just remembering to plug back into a conversation that’s always in progress.”
Remembering!
When we see God in our surroundings, our circumstances, our lives, it’s not that He just appeared, He’s been there all along. It’s just that we remembered to plug back in. We opened our spiritual eyes to see him at work.
In Exodus we see how easily we forget even the miracles of God. The Israelites were delivered out of slavery, delivering from the hand of Pharaoh. God opened the Red Sea and they walked across on dry land. But not long after having seen such miracles they were grumbling, complaining, unable to trust God for even the simplest provisions in life.
Once again I’ll go over what God has done,
Psalm 77:11-13 MSG
lay out on the table the ancient wonders;
I’ll ponder all the things you’ve accomplished,
and give a long, loving look at your acts.
O God! Your way is holy!
No god is great like God!
As you seek to remember, to stay plugged in, we practice reflection, thankfulness, sharing the goodness of God!
- Set aside time often for reflection, to think back on God’s work in your life.
- Thank God often for his work in your life!
- Share what God is doing in your life at the dinner table. Relate a memory of your spiritual journey to a friend.
- Write your memories in a journal, or even letters to a younger generation.
Perhaps nothing helps us make the movement from our little selves to a larger world than remembering God in gratitude. Such a perspective puts God in view in all of life, not just in the moments we set aside for worship or spiritual disciplines.
Henri Nouwen
Not just in the moments when life seems easy.
I’ve been participating in the HopeWriters Challenge this week. You can find entries in my Instagram account as well as here in my blog –
#hopewriterlife
#hopewriterslife
