“Attention, all! See the marvels of God!…Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God…” Psalm 46:8 & 10, MSG
Have there been times in your life when you knew God wanted to be especially “visible” to you? Times when He wanted you to notice Him at work on your behalf?
Susan B. Mead speaks of this in her book, Dance With Jesus – From Grief to Grace, page 47, “On the morning of Kyle’s service, I had a dream. Kyle was dancing – like the photo – with Jesus!…Jesus turned, looked at me, and said, ‘This is to bring you great joy. I taught him how to dance.” This dream, a moment in time, helped her put one foot in front of the other that day and many days after. I get that because I had a similar dream after my beloved grandfather, Papaw Daniel, passed away. My dream, like Susan’s, brought such peace. These sweet visits helped us both see our loved ones were OK.
When we are buried in grief or buried in life issues or even the laundry, we can miss His provision. Taking care of parents, kids, pets and bosses can make us numb. Our mind is in a fog and because we don’t feel God’s closeness, we assume He is far away. Fortunately, God realized we often need Him go out of His way for us to notice. Sometimes it’s like Moses and the burning bush – it’s on fire – and, God’s talking.1 Or, you are Balaam2 and the donkey in the road is talking. More often it is a little less noticeable. It those small things that we call coincidence. Ruth’s story in the Bible is filled with what some would call happenstances, “…And as it happened she found herself…”.3
In the quietness of a moment, God speaks loudest to our hearts.
Beth Moore calls these “GodStops”. Here’s Beth, “… In essence, God’s glory is any way in which He makes Himself recognizable. When I see a brilliant sunset I know no artist could paint, I recognize God through His masterpiece. Likewise, when something happens in my day that I know is more than a coincidence, I am learning to recognize God in it. Part of our faith-walk experience will be learning to recognize God in our midst by noticing visible prints of His invisible hands… I am convinced that the more we learn to recognize and appreciate His interventions and revelations, the more we are likely to receive them…When God makes Himself observable, we want to stop and take notice….A GodStop is any means by which God seems to go out of His way during your day to make Himself known to you…” – Beth Moore, Excerpt from Believing God
When I was working through Beth’s Believing God study, she asked us to write down a few GodStops every night. In the beginning, my journal was, I got a good parking space. As the weeks moved forward, I was amazed. The more I noticed, the more visible His hand became.
I’ve been missing my GodStops lately. I know He is there but, I have been too busy to see His handiwork. The plight of busyness has dulled my spiritual ears. Being attentive to the Holy Spirt is vital because, in the small moments, He whispers quietly.
I challenge myself to begin, once again, recording God’s “visible prints of His invisible hands” in my life. I challenge you as well.
He is there- “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are very glad.” Psalm 126:3
1 Exodus 3
2 Numbers 22:21-39
3 Ruth 2:3
Featured as a guest poster today at Susan B. Mead’s
Oh, by the way, join the #DanceWithJesus social “chatter” for your chance to WIN $100. Like that?! It’s as simple as 1, 2, 3.
Linking with…Holly Barrett’s Testimony Tuesday, Kelly Balarie’s #raralinkup, and Crystal Storms’ Intentional Tuesday
Love the idea of God Stops. What a great practice to look for all the ways we see/hear/experience God’s blessing and presence. Hope you are well. Love visiting at #RaRaLinkup.
Glad you stopped by for a visit Ginger! Recording those intimate moments with God is priceless.
Hi Carmen. You are so right. God Stops are wonderful gifts from the Lord. I started writing them down in a journal. It’s nice to look back and see what God has done. .
It is so comforting Jenny to be reminded of what God has done for us. Blessings!
Hello Carmen, I am so glad you joined the Dance . I enjoyed reading your post. You drew different words from Beth Moorre to make this a better read.
I accept this challenge to record God’s visible prints.
Many Blessings to you friend
I am so glad you were challenged Ifeoma to look for those God stops. And, I am glad I found your comments so we could visit. Blessings!
Carmen, I love your challenge of “recording God’s ‘visible prints of His invisible hands’ in my life.” Last year my word of the year was “delight,” and every week I would record one way God had delighted me that week. It opened my eyes to see God’s hand all around me.
Thank you, Carmen, for reminding me to quiet my world so I can hear God’s whispers and sharing your heart at #IntentionalTuesday on Intentionally Pursuing. : )
Oh that is a great word for the year Crystal!
Hi Carmen! I like the idea of ‘GodStops’. And I completely agree with the thought that the more we are aware of these, the more we will see.
I think it’s a human thing to get involved in what we see and what seems to take so much time, crowding out the knowledge that God is with us. Constant rededication to His presence is a definite work in progress for me, but as we know, it’s so worth it!
I’ll tweet about the book!
Blessings,
Ceil
Thank you Ceil! I know Susan surely appreciated that tweet. Blessings friend!
That was a very uplifting post. I have never heard of GodStops but I really want to incorporate that into my time with God and really stop to be in awe of him. We so often speed through life and forget to enjoy all he has done and made around us. I want to choose to me more intentional at recognizing him. Great post!
Thank you Rhiannon! Stopping to notice is a great exercise in thankfulness. Blessings!
GodStops. I like that. Thanks, Carmen, for the challenge to look for them more in our lives.
Oh me too Trudy. And I hate to admit it, but sometimes it is a challenge to see them.