The written list and the one that is not

I am making my list for the day, navigating the big rocks that already appear before me, responsibilities to take care of, and all the stuff that I forgot to do yesterday.  And I am very aware that the most profound things I encounter today do not appear on this list.

I know, underlying all of these words and tasks on the surface is something more.  I only think I can dictate my day.  That is a profound failure, not just of my imagination, but a profound denial of the reality of God. He can change the course of my day and the trajectory of my life before I am even aware of it. I witness that in varying degrees everyday.  It is not that God can change it all, but that God has.  The story of my life is radically different because of my relationship with Him.

That is not a theological concept nor a religious affection, but the reality of who He is.

In the olden days in church, these stories of God's Presence were labeled as "testimonies."  These life-changing stories were not mere anecdotes with God's name tag artificially and awkwardly attached.  God is at work in great and powerful ways, in the shifting of tectonic plates and in the tiniest details.

And for that timid little girl sitting on those hard pews, and now for this still timid grandma, I am encouraged and inspired by stories of grace.  Because they reveal not just the working out of a Biblical worldview, but the reality of God.  The LORD is not just working in others' lives.  He is working in me in ways I may never know on this side of life.

Sometimes we get a glimpse.  But always we can know.

I read these ancient writings of God in His Word that are not just relevant to my life today, but a great hoard of treasure, transforming and so incredibly personal, a precious revealing of the reality of God, a continual reminder of His Presence.  " I am with you.  Do not be afraid."

And daily I learn that, "It means simply God is here.  There is no place, there can be no place, where He is not," writes A. W. Tozer in his 1948 classic The Pursuit of God.

I stand at the beginning of this sacred day, in its midst, and at the midnight hour, in that which appears significant and that which looks like only a simple task, and learn to find Him there.

Because He is.  Is worship just a sudden awareness of Him?

"Oh, you see God in everything," doubters accuse.  "Things just happen."

Really?

And Tozer proposes "...allow at least the possibility that such experiences may arise from the Presence of God in the world and His persistent effort to communicate with mankind.  Let us not dismiss such an hypothesis too flippantly."

The reality of God is not subject to prevailing public opinions.

His Presence changes everything.  Everything on my list for today... and all those things never even written there, even those things yet invisible on my radar, God's faithfulness is inscribed all over it.

My times
   are in Your hand

              Psalm 31. 15