What I Believe (a PINK Tuesday post)

Jesus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As I grow older in my faith, I find that there are fewer words to describe who God is – to me – and what He does in my life. I don’t mean that there aren’t words to express the truth about Him, only that I don’t actually need them. Does that make sense?

My experience with God in the past year has shifted from learning about Him and me moving toward Him to something much simpler and much more complex… just BEING together with God.

Where I used to think: what’s the right thing to do in this situation? Now… I just know.

Where I used to have to work and search God’s Word for an answer, somehow those answers come more often TO me – and not always from the pages of scripture! Sometimes God’s answers come from a conversation, or His instructions through an impression or sense of Him speaking to me. His comfort often comes by means of a changing situation, and His direction by simply waiting and watching for HIM to MOVE.

I’ve come to a place in my journey of faith where there seems to be one word that sums up all of my belief and understanding about God – His nature, His character, my relationship with Him, how He feels about me and what He wants to provide… ONE WORD!

PRESENCE.

What I mean by this is that I am never alone.

I don’t have to open a book or close my eyes or make confession or try really hard to clear my head and focus… because God’s presence isn’t dependent upon me at all.

He doesn’t need me to act in a certain way or say specific words or even pray in order to be who He IS – which is HERE! PRESENT.

You may have heard the catch-phrase from M. Night Shyamalan’s film The Sixth Sense – “I see dead people.” It’s as if I have been given spiritual eyes – not for glimpses of the deceased – but for actually seeing the living God all around me, every single day!

I guess “I see Jesus” IS my statement of faith! Because every day, I see Jesus alive. In all of YOU!

And here, inside of me.

Jesus’ disciples once asked Him why He told so many stories… His answer to them is confirmation to me that I am right where I belong on my faith journey today.

“The disciples came up and asked, “Why do you tell stories?” He replied, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn’t been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they’re blue in the face and not get it. I don’t want Isaiah’s forecast repeated all over again: Your ears are open but you don’t hear a thing. Your eyes are awake but you don’t see a thing. The people are blockheads! They stick their fingers in their ears so they won’t have to listen; They screw their eyes shut so they won’t have to look, so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face and let me heal them. “But you have God-blessed eyes – eyes that see! And God-blessed ears – ears that hear!”     Matthew 13:10-16 (The Message)

May God bless your eyes and ears on this PINK Tuesday!