“Let
us acknowledge the Lord; let
us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.” Hosea 6:3 (NIV)
As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.” Hosea 6:3 (NIV)
God shows up.
He really does. He shows you what
He can do. That is what I am continuing
to experience this month. I hope that
you are experiencing God showing up in your life as well.
When people are
disrespectful to you, God shows up, and puts a hand over your mouth to not respond
snarky to the person. He sends a text or
a phone call from a friend that is uplifting and helps you refocus to hear the
truth when you are believing the lies.
God is a God of truth, and shows up.
In the dark of
night, when you are questioning what in the world is happening in your
life. He is the sense of peace. When you are mad at where you are at, and
feel stuck, He is the calm and the compass to direct you where you need to go.
He will release you.
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me
with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
I am not saying
that life will always be a ray of sunshine. Yet, the SON, will always shine on
us. He shows up. Even in the midst of
the darkest day, God shows up. When we are in the fog, He is the lighthouse.
The light house,
that is something that I want to share a story about. Christmas, two years ago, I was lost in the
fog and needing direction of my personal life.
It was as if, I was in a lifeboat, and could not see which way to go.
I prayed and read
and journaled my journey in the fog. One
day, I received a gift from a friend. It
was a lighthouse. I thought that I knew
that it was the answer to my prayer. So,
I pursued the decision that I thought I should make.
Cut to two years
later, and having hit the rugged rocks of that shoreline, or decision, I should
say. What happened? “God, I thought you
were leading me towards this decision?
Why did I crash into the rocks?
Why didn’t you warn me to go a different direction?” I ask God.
It took a lot of
soul searching, and God searching. It
took about seven months of every day asking why, and where to God. Honestly,
there was time that I stopped asking, because my ears were closed to listen to
the truth.
Then, in an unexpected way, God appeared to me
through whisper. “I did show up. In
fact, there were three times that I tried to show you to choose a different
course. I sent you the lighthouse ornament, and Acts 2:25-28, and the squirrel
ornament.”
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“I thought that
they were all leading towards the direction?” I answered.
“That is the
direction that YOU wanted to go, but I knew better. I knew that you would be hurt. That is why I
tried to warn you. Laura, a lighthouse is a warning of rocks and cliffs. The
verse says that I will not lead you to hell, and the squirrel was meant to tell
you that the direction that you were going was just a distraction, and not
where I wanted you to go. I am still
with you, even unto the end of the world. I will never leave you nor forsake
you. Let’s get you on the right course,” I hear God speak.
It is a comfort
to know that even when we mess up, or head the wrong direction, God is
there. He just turns us around and heads
us in the right direction. There isn’t
anything that can make God stop loving us and wanting us to be in His presence.
You may wonder
what a squirrel has to do with a distraction. For those of you who have seen
“UP” there is a dog, Dug, who is on the cartoon. He is a talking dog, but that is not the
point. The point is, while he is talking,
he always gets distracted, and yell, “Squirrel.”
As I thought
about it, God did appear. Three times he
showed up, and more. Three times, He tried to warn me that following the
direction which I went would lead to crashing, and not where God wanted me to
go.
God appears in
the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Dear Poppa God,
Thank you for
appearing to us. You are always with us. When we seek you, we will find you, when we
search for you with all of our hearts.
We are so grateful that you appear.
Thank you for leading us, and showing up.
In Jesus name,
Amen.
Laura Maxson
