Did you meet God this week?

“ The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship.
² Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known.
³ They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard.
⁴ Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.” Psalms 19:1-4 (NLT)

One of my pastimes as I drive along is to tune in religious programming on FM stations. Unfortunately, occasionally I will ‘lose’ a station before the end of the broadcast. This happened on one of my recent trips and all I caught was the speaker’s remark: “Did you meet God this week?” Immediately, visions such as Paul on the road to Damascus, Moses’ encounter with the burning bush, and Elijah awaiting God’s response came to mind. Based on those biblical examples, I never had a meeting with God this week or any previous one!

However, the more I pondered his question, my awareness of meetings with God expanded. I came to realize that ‘meetings’ would only occur if I sincerely believed that God was still at work in the world today just as He was in the past. The Apostle Paul claimed there was no excuse in not seeing God, as He is readily visible in nature. (Romans 1:19,20) Here are just several examples: a beautiful day, gazing at the night’s stars, and even the song of the lowly sparrow.

You may recall how the disciples failed to recognize our Lord as He walked with them along the Emmaus Road because they were so over-wrought by His death on the cross. I wondered if we might at times are also so blinded by our concerns to such a degree that we fail to appreciate His being with us along our life’s journey? It seems that if we placed greater trust in His promise to be with us ‘until the end of time’; we would be better able to sense His presence in our daily walk. Do we accept His being responsible for that ‘still small voice’ that often comes to us in amidst life’s storms or the comfort that comes to us through a friend or fellow-sufferer? If we trust that He will keep the assurance given to us so long ago, we will not only have met Him last week; but moreover on a daily basis as we strive to grasp His everlasting presence both in and around us.

Prayer: “God, help us to recognize that You are always with us

and internalize this truth. Grant us the grace of being

aware of Your presence so we may joyfully go about

our daily tasks knowing that You are near. Amen