God is Present in Your Everyday Life
There are times in life when it feels like God is not present in our life. It may feel like He's hiding from you. God is interested and present in your everyday life.I bought a coat cooler weather to come. The temperature in upstate New York had already taken a nose dive a that time, and I awoke to a chilly morning. Excitedly, I put on my new coat only to discover the anti-theft device had not been removed.Taking the jacket back to the store would normally be no problem except I couldn't locate the receipt. Thankfully, modern technology tracks all our purchases and with a little extra investigation, the sales clerk verified the purchase and removed the anti-theft tag.A few days later, I had another opportunity to wear my jacket. I placed my hands in the pocket, and guess what my hand felt - the receipt! The receipt had been there the whole time; I assumed I didn't have it because I didn't see it.
When we don't see or feel God, it can easily feel as though God is missing from our lives.
Marriages can start with grand gestures such as proposals that take your breath away. Those who have been married for a while will tell you it's the everyday gestures, often very small, that mean the most. It's your spouse remembering to purchase your favorite snack at the grocery store or bringing you a glass of water because he/she knows you are thirsty. These simple gestures reinforce to you that your spouse is aware of your desires.
God is found in the details of our life, but He can be missed because we look for Him in the spectacular.
Elijah challenged the people and the prophets of Baal to choose the true God (1 Kings 18:21 ESV). He suggested a simple test - to prepare a burnt offering, lay it on wood, and ask God to light it on fire. The God who answers with fire is the true God. Not only did Elijah give these men home court advantage by letting them go first, he purposely made all odds against himself by douching his wood and offering with water. When Elijah prayed, God answered with fire, lighting Elijah's burnt offering and wood.
God met Elijah in a spectacular way.
When we experience a miracle of God in a big way, it can lead us to expect Him to always meet us with displays of power. However, God meets His people uniquely for different situations. Sometimes it's with powerful manifestations while other times it's in the quiet.
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After God's display of power, Elijah fled for fear of his life and ran to a cave to hide. God met Elijah there and confronted the situation. Elijah is told to go out to the mountain and the Lord will pass before him.First, a great and powerful wind passes, that tears the mountains and breaks the rocks, but the LORD was not in the wind. Next, the earth quakes, and, the LORD was not in the earthquake. Then fire comes, and again, the LORD was not in the fire (1 Kings 19:9-12 ESV).Like many of us, Elijah looked for God in the magnificent manifestations, but he did not find God there. After the dramatic displays there was a still small voice (1 Kings 19:12 ESV). It was there God met Elijah, in the quiet.When we have experienced God in the spectacular, it can be easy to look for Him in powerful displays. We must be careful to seek Him in the quiet moments - in the everyday moments of life. Seek God, and you will find Him (Deut. 4:29 ESV). God is present in your everyday life.