Are you wondering where God is because you haven’t sensed His moving in your life lately?
It was a still October morning. Summer seemed to linger; but temperatures had dipped below 50 overnight. There was a definite chill, but not because of a breeze. In fact, the air was the stillest it had been in some time. But as I noted the calm, some movement caught the corner of my eye. It was the wind chime dangling from my porch roof. It made no sound, but its sail and pipes were swaying ever so gently.
And I wondered how.
There was no breeze cooling my face or rustling the leaves in the nearby trees.
But the seemingly still air was not actually still. Though I could not feel it, I could see the unmistakable evidence of its presence.
In fact, the more I looked, the more evidence I found – a spiderweb strung between the pines, shimmering as its dancing threads caught the sun; Old Glory playfully twisting around the pole next door; and a handful of leaves twirling at the center of the old oak tree.
Then I realized I sometimes feel the same about God. Needs that seem pressing have not been met. And it just doesn’t FEEL like He’s doing anything on my behalf.
I have learned those are the best moments to pull out my Gratitude Journal – to rehearse evidence of God’s presence in the past; then pick up my pen to begin again fixing my eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of my life and its many blessings.
And sure enough, when I seek His face then begin looking for today’s blessings, they are indeed there… because God is still moving.
It may take a careful eye at first, because sometimes His Spirit moves in subtle ways. But the more I look for Him, the more I am amazed at all I had been overlooking.
God had not been still. Only my perception had been.
So today’s journal entry will record the silent, gentle swaying of the wind chime, and its reminder that God is indeed moving all around me.
And as I finish, the leaves begin to rustle, I feel a breeze on my sun-warmed skin. And I smile to think perhaps God sent this stronger breeze just to say He loves me, and is glad I finally noticed He was there all along.
“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” Psalm 145:18 NIV