Don't see it?
Look again.
I'm not talking about your favorite sock, the one your pinkie toe pokes out of. I'm talking about the creator of your pinkie toe.
I feel like a lot of people compare God to Waldo from those Where's Waldo books, but I'd like to assert that comparison is incorrect. God doesn't go with you all over the world so he can randomly wander off into the crowd. God is interested in you, and he's going to stick with you at your side. In some cases, he'll stick with you like a bodyguard, protecting you from danger but most of the time he is more like the friend you've known since childhood sitting next to you on the roller coaster.
If God is with us, why doesn't he just show himself? Basically, he doesn't want to overwhelm us. What I mean is, he's just that awesome--but that's another blog post.
Think about your own life for a second.
Since I can't describe your life in detail, let me use mine as an example. I was born on July 20, 1989 in a flat tourist town in Virginia. It's hard to say how being born an eighties-baby helped me find God in my life, although looking back, I can say it gave me the ability to relate to people a few years younger and older than me in all the ministries I lead now. As for the location I live in, God definitely put me here for a purpose. For starters, if I lived in another part of the state, the endless hills would wreak havoc on my ability to get around; I use gloves to get around in my wheelchair, and climbing up hills before coasting down them shreds wheelchair gloves like you wouldn't believe. Also, because I'm in a tourist town, I've been able to maintain my fluency in French pretty easily because every summer tons of Canadians and Europeans flock to my area on vacation. It is worth saying, French is one of my passions and I plan on being a church planter in France one day. God must have orchestrated that.
Back on topic, God placed you where you are for a specific reason. You were born at the time and place you were because God has a purpose for you. Everything that has happened in your life has been for one simple purpose, to draw you closer to God; you are unique and you are beautiful because of your uniqueness. You are the sum total of the choices you've made, and God placed you right where he wanted you so you could choose to seek him, even though he's right there with you.
Don't believe me? Try listing twenty things you're thankful for, and then try to figure out where they came from and why they happened that way. What about all the times you just barely made it through some situation that seemed insurmountable? Wasn't it God who got you through it? Think about it for a while, you'll be surprised.
One of the ways I often help people in their faith is to find where God is at in their lives. I help my mom see him in her failing marriage, and I help my girlfriend recognize God's presence in her life. I can only show people where God is in their life because I spend my life studying my own, thanking God every time I see him bless me or answer a prayer or even teach me something new and insightful.
I spy with my little eye something that cannot be explained by natural phenomena.
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