How Do You See God?
It occurred to me the other day that not all people are the same. Well, I knew this, of course. One can hardly leave one’s house without seeing a smorgasbord of unique hairstyles, clothing trends, races, ethnicities, and ages, just to name a few. In fact, one not need leave one’s house at all to witness the vast diversity of the human species across the internet.
And so, as I was driving to work one morning, it struck me with amazement that not all people are the same, and this includes how they see, or relate, to God.
See, this summer I have been paying attention to where I sense God’s presence the most. Actually, it started off by me feeling an absence of God’s presence and subsequently wondering what was going on in my life that caused me to feel this way.
It came down to this.
I was too busy (surprise!). Summer means summer lovin’, I know, but for me it was a little too much lovin’ and not enough resting. The problem was, my summer was full of (mostly) all good things… unfortunately, too many good things is still too many things, and this crowded out the voice of God in my life.
So I started to consciously pay attention to where I felt snippets of soul-rest in the midst of the busyness. This is what I started to notice:
A moment of morning quiet was enough to start calming my soul before my day began… and my soul craved more of this time.
Taking my paddleboard out on the water soothed me to the deepest levels, even when I felt snappish or frazzled.
Conversations that dug deeper into the hows, whats, and whys of life left me feeling invigorated and connected to people when I otherwise might have been tempted to disconnect due to fatigue.
I began to realize something.
God was in these moments.
This is how he was speaking to me. Slowly, he drew my attention to himself, and the more I participated in these good things – taking the time to slow down and breathe deeply into them – the more I began to sense his good rest settle over and in me. I began to crave more of these moments and began to search them out myself – I got up earlier to lengthen my morning time of solitude with God, I sought out opportunities to get out on the water, and I set aside specified time as ‘friend time.’
In other words, God spoke to me in certain moments, and I had the choice to respond. I could ignore it, continuing on my life-draining busyness, or I could respond and slowly begin filling my soul back up with things that help me to thrive as a human being.
Now, I should add that I also normally sense God speaking during my own Bible study time (the more accepted, traditional way of hearing the voice of God). But this time, even that wasn’t there. Instead, in this season, I began to sense God speaking to me through simpler things: silence, nature (especially water!), and good conversation. He was speaking to me in my present situation. He did not speak to me through extensive Bible study or periods of prayer that I did not have time for. He met me where I was at and slowly I began to see him in the life-giving things in my life.
That’s when the thought struck:
How are others sensing God in their lives right now?
It could be entirely different than my own experience. I truly believe that God speaks to people differently depending on life circumstance, maturity, and personality. What might seem mundane to one person might well be the voice of God to another.
I am well aware that this may seem like heresy to some. It certainly would have seemed so to my past self! Here is my question to you: Is God limited to speaking only through the Bible? You may answer, “Of course, he is not limited!” If so, consider how else God may be speaking to you through the events and circumstances in your own life. Consider where you have felt the absence or the presence of God in your life. Consider where you have sensed him in the past and how you sense him now. How are you seeing and meeting God in your life right now?
Obviously, there is an element of discernment in seeing, hearing, and sensing the presence of God. I write this to you as food for thought regarding God’s revelation to his people today, and in this case, I am advocating for general revelation (knowledge of God and spiritual matters discovered through natural means) as a vehicle through which God continues to speak to modern-day people.
