“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” (Jeremiah 31:3, New International Version)
Last night, in a Wednesday evening prayer service in my home church, God showed up.
I know that some people don’t like that phrase because they think it denies the omnipresent nature of God. He is, after all, everywhere, isn’t He? Well, of course He is. But there is a difference between knowing that He is there because He is omnipresent, and experiencing Him as He invades and interrupts our agenda with an unmistakable demonstration of His presence.
No, the building didn’t shake. As far as I know, no one saw an unexplainable vision or heard a voice. There were no “signs and wonders.” No one experienced a miraculous physical healing.
So, how did He show up? He showed up in a broken woman who had the nerve to interrupt the pastor’s message and admit out loud that she felt lost, isolated, and unloved. And, my friends, all Heaven broke loose!
This context is completely insufficient for a description of how God touched her and everyone else in the room, so I’ll just say this: she came to know and experience personally the reality of God’s everlasting love and everyone there got to see and experience it with her. God not only drew her to Himself, He used her to reveal Himself anew to the rest of us.
My prayer for this dear lady, a new sister in Christ, is the same prayer I have for all of us. Expressed by the Apostle Paul …
“Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19, New Living Translation)
Question: When was the last time God showed up and interrupted your agenda?
Leave a comment below. I’d love to hear your perspective.
