The God who is here

I was walking from the fridge to the kitchen table early this morning, from one task to another, the brightness of the day streaming through the back window.  And there on the counter top, which appeared to be clean, was the evidence of little visitors from two days ago.  With the new day's light shining on it and from this other angle, fingerprints covered one entire section of the surface.

On Monday, my husband and I enjoyed the day with two of our grandchildren, ages three and eighteen months. It didn't require Sherlock Holmes to reveal the proof.  Fingerprints revealed where our three year old grandson had eaten lunch, and later, a popcorn snack.  That evidence was not apparent to me until I saw it from a different perspective.

As I climbed the stairs to the playroom, I chuckled at the imprints on the carpet of what looked like a pace of sixty footprints an hour.  A stream of small toys were scattered in patterns across the room.  There was no question about who had been here. 

And I thought of God's designs even in this past week, so many ways that I have seen His hand on my life and in hearing the extraordinary stories of those around me.

God's fingerprints reveal His Presence.  His footprints show me the next right step. God is all over this.  And even though I might not realize it at the time, God is doing something incredibly good even in this.  I may not ever know the outcome, nor the end result, but I can know He is working.  God is not silent.  I am surrounded by His evidence and the reality of Who He is.

Things don't just happen in some kind of random lottery.
Things don't just happen for an aimless reason.
Things don't "just happen."
God brings His purposes with great design,
with intention,
     and always in His goodness,
no matter if we can see His purposes
                                                      YET.

And someday
      we may see these things from His perspective,
His fingerprints intersecting
                all over our lives,
His footprints like a network of paths
              all over our stories.
And sometimes we may never know
     until we get to the other side of life,
grasping not just the present,
but all that came before,
      and dimensions yet to come.

A friend just texted me to pray, "needing God to show Himself all over!"

Already a done deal.  God does not just exist.  God is.

His fingerprints are designed to show us that reality, not just the working out of a situation, answer to a question, or solution to a problem, but..."that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by your name." (Isaiah 45.3)

My daughter and son-in-law spark conversation at the supper table every evening by asking their young children three questions:  "What was good today?"  "What was hard (or bad)?"  And "how did you see God in your day?"

The children are ready with the stories of their day.  Because they are looking for Him and the evidence of His faithfulness, not just in the crises or "big events," but in the everydayness of life, personally inscribed with His name and theirs.  Look for His handiwork.  Watch for His footprints.

God grants great vision
         in the smallest details.
And even in mystery itself, 
  He allows His Presence to be known,
  in the substance of what is visible
and overwhelmingly by
         "the evidence of things not seen."
 (Hebrews 11.1)

Like so many little indications,
I can know the unmistakable evidence
                that yet He is here,
our mighty God at work.


Your way was through the sea,
Your path through the great waters,
yet Your footprints were unseen.

                          Psalm 77. 19