Lent - A time to see God

"Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow me up or the pit close its mouth over me. Answer me, O Lord, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me."
~ Psalm 69:15 - 16

I am reminded of a woman who shared, "I just can't seem to find God."

​The middle-aged woman looked over at her mother who no longer remembers her name.  The two had spent the last twenty years living together.   The first five of those years were filled with many trips, many friends, and many memories. "Alzheimer's introduced itself to my mother about six years ago, and they began traveling without me.  It takes my mother to so many unknown places."

With each year that passed, her mother's presence changed, until she no longer recognized her daughter, or knew friends that they had once spent hours upon hours with. The daughter admitted, "I just finally gave up, and now we are here." She looks around a very "institutional green room," as she describes it.

She looked at me and commented that she kept remembering the verse from Peter of "waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God," hoping that "today will be that day."

She admitted that she wished that her mother could just finally, "pass away," noting that it is too hard to "see her like this," and then admitting feeling "guilty."

"How does anyone wish that their mother would just die?" I remember with those words she began to cry harder.

I just remember hugging her, trying to find the words to share at that time, and realizing that the silence was enough.

The greatest gift of love that we can give to one another is when we realize that we must surrender ourselves and those that we love to God. It is no longer waiting to hasten God's arrival, it is our ability to sit and open our eyes and to begin to see what God is doing.

For any of us, our waiting, watching, and even our serving others, has to do with being able to wait with our eyes open and actually become "seers."

I am reminded that while Jesus was carrying the cross throughout the streets of Jerusalem, those present were also being invited to see what lengths God will go to ensure that we get a glimpse of what God is doing.  

John, even in the wilderness declared, "The Kingdom of God is at hand!"  God's coming is all around us!

In the times that we are currently living, we are being invited to remove blinders, or even blindfolds that many of us wear each day, and look around us. To sit in quiet places and to look not only outward, but inward as well.  God is already present where we are!  The place in which you stand is already holy!

We are to keep our eyes open. To seek to find ways that the Spirit of the Living God can touch us, speak to us, and guide. Even to places that may suddenly be unpredictable, and even difficult. We are invited to look fully at God where we encounter God's grace and mercy.

Open your eyes and see the God that encircles us, pursues after us, and is waiting for moments to be able to catch up with us! God is always within us, even when God seems to be beyond us.

We are invited to loosen our grip on life, and instead, allow God to hold us in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2020