What do you see?

The LORD replied, "Listen, I am making a covenant with you in the presence of all your people. I will perform miracles that have never been performed anywhere in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people around you will see the power of the LORD—the awesome power I will display for you.     (Exodus 34:10 NLT)

I've been challenged by a few speakers recently.  They're all over the board on background and training.

The first was a Roman Catholic priest who spoke at my dad's funeral.  He spoke of the hope we have because of our faith in the redeeming blood of Christ Jesus.  He reminded us that when we were baptized, we were baptized into Christ (Romans 6:3, Galatians 3:27).  Because we are in Christ, we have hope.

The second was Michael Little, a preacher with a Master of Divinity degree in Biblical Studies.  As he brought part of the message this weekend at Life Bridge (which I watched online) I was reminded that God continually tries to reveal Himself to us.  We, like the Israelites in the desert, fail to see Him and trust Him.

The third was a preacher I used to listen to all the time early in my walk: Charles Swindoll.  In his famous quote about attitude, he concluded by saying: "I am convinced that life is ten percent what happens to me and ninety percent how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes."

Finally, my wife and best friend has been walking around since a family ministry conference several weeks ago reminding me to have "God sightings."  She has reminded me that often times we simply need to look at things differently in order to see God.

Today, I applied all of these pieces of wisdom.  My daughter has been battling problems with her lungs since the end of January.  First she had the flu, which lasted two weeks then developed into pneumonia.  After three x-rays and two different antibiotics, the doctor asked her to go in for a C.T. scan the same week my dad left this life.  Manda came to Cincinnati for the funeral, then returned to Valparaiso to prepare for her final dance competition.  The competition is complete, and today we went in for the scan.  We won't know the results for a couple days.

After the scan was complete, we went for an early lunch.  We prayed for our meal.  We started to enjoy our food. Then it hit me.


"Most dads (and even many moms) don't have the flexibility in their schedule to go to a doctor visit with their children.  Most children don't have the flexibility in their school schedule to prepare for their vocation (like dance teacher) as well as Manda can.  Most parents and children don't have the blessing of being able to enjoy lunch together on a Wednesday morning.  But for our family, God made this possible."

I finished sharing my thoughts, then I turned to my wife with a smile.


"That's my God-sighting for this morning."

She smiled back.

Do you see God today?
Do you see the things trying to block your view?


What do you see?