God Sightings: To See God More Clearly

       When we ask God to help us see Him more clearly, what are we really asking?

      If we can't see God or the evidence of God in the world around us, if we lose sight of God's working out his love and mercy in our lives, then God becomes little more than an abstract concept.  God becomes impersonal.  Someone once said, "If we are blind to the presence and power of God then it won't be very long before we no longer see the point in praising God."  But the most amazing aspect of our Christian faith is that the Creator God that we find revealed in Jesus Christ wants nothing more than a personal relationship with every aspect of his creation, especially with each and every one of his children.  Therefore being able to perceive or recognize God's movement or God's actions in our daily lives is absolutely critical to what it means to call yourself a spiritual person.  What we are really asking for in this prayer is to better perceive and experience the God who is and always has been guiding, protecting, and providing for us day by day.

    Where do you look for God?

    The Bible is a good place to start.  After all, we believe that God reveals himself in a special way through the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.  The most obvious place to search for God is in the Word of God.
     Creation is another place where God's nature often reveals itself.  There is nothing quite as captivating as a brilliant sunset, a soaring eagle, a flowing stream, or a majestic mountain.  Next time your walking your dog on a clear night look up at the stars.  It is both humbling and awesome to consider the scope of God's hand.
     It makes sense to look for God in the acts of kindness, compassion, and generosity in the people around us.  Nothing can turn a day around like a kind, encouraging word--a bright smile, or someone letting you turn in front of them when traffic congestion is at its worst.
     Sometimes God reveals himself in the silence.  God might come through a still small voice or God may just be there in the sheer silence or murmuring to you through the back ground noises of a quiet house or busy street.
     Jesus said that if we want to find him in our daily lives be on the lookout for the least, last, and lost in our midst.  When we come across real human need, the opportunity to love and serve is also an opportunity to commune with our Savior.
    It is wrong just to look for God with any one of our senses.  We are just as likely to hear God as to see God; just as likely to feel God emotionally as we are to have our minds filled with insight; just as likely sense the nudging and leading of the Holy Spirit as we are to pursue a list of worthy goals on our to-do list.
    
     Try This

     Over the next week, begin each day with an emphasis on the first request of Richard's prayer:  May I See You More Clearly.   Make that a breath prayer--a whispered simple petition that you repeat over and over through out the day.  You might whisper it out loud or utter it only in your mind, but find make it a regular thought throughout your day.
     Let me see you more clearly. 
     Help me see you Lord. 
     Reveal yourself to me. 
     Do not hide thyself from me.
     Open my eyes, ears, and heart that I might not miss Your Presence.
You get the idea.  Pray the prayer, trusting that if you pray it with your whole heart, God will find a way to answer it.  In fact, it is just the kind of prayer God delights in answering. 
     Then focus your reflection time each night on how your prayer was answered.  Push yourself to reach beyond the obvious and the trite examples.  How has God allowed you to experience something of who God is--what aspects of God's nature came through to you as you moved through your work, friendships, family, and rest each day?