God Check

This past week at church we looked at the story of Jacob's ladder. For those of you who don't remember it. In short, Jacob after having tricked his father out of a blessing that should have rightfully gone to his brother, finds himself on the run. He leaves his immediate family and is headed to some extended family. He is alone somewhere in between those places when he lies down to sleep and has a dream of a ladder stretching up into heaven. Angels are traveling up and down the ladder. He encounters God through this dream and is reminder of the promises made by God to his grandfather Abraham. When Jacob awakes he declares, "Surely, God is in this place and I did not know it." He makes some pledges to God and commemorates the experience by marking the place with the rock that had been beneath his head and names the place Bethel (house of God).

Every time I read this story the words, "Surely God is in this place and I did not know" arrest my attention. I love sharing God-incident story. You know those stories of events that unfold that are too remarkable and coincidental to be attributed to anything but God's handiwork. But I have noticed that I recognize most God-incidents though only in my rear view mirror. In other words, I can reflect on the past and see God's handiwork, but I often miss it as it is occurring. Jacob had one of those wonderful incidents where in the moment he was fully aware that what was occurring was God at work and he took time to acknowledge it as such.

I would love to transition my awareness of God to the 'here and now'. Intellectually, I know that God is omnipresent. That is to say God is everywhere. I know that God is always present, but how often have I wondered, "Where is God right now?" I realize that if I want to get to a place of God in the here and now, I need to radically revise my question. I need to assume the presence of God and start regularly asking, "How is God here right now?"

In order to do this I have randomly started saying to my family, "God check." That's a call to all of us to take a moment and consider how God is there in that moment right then. I am really enjoying this. A lot of peace seems to flow in those moments. I am curious how regular God checks are going to affect my awareness when applied over time. I would love to find myself regularly saying, "Surely God is in this place, and I know it!"

Blessings to you for greater awareness of God's awesome presence. Peace from the Practical Disciple.