1.20.25 ~ Looking for Him

 Good morning!

The day has finally arrived: Inauguration day. Suzanne's birthday at Faith Works (today is your birthday, na, na, na, na :-) and my trip to sunny and warm Honduras; compared the 1 degree weather this morning in Stanton, MI :-)

The extra protection for the inauguration ceremony that is portrayed through the media narrative doesn't undermine the reality that we are living in challenging times, but it does instill fear to the point that many forget the reality of the Yahweh's/the Lord's presence in the midst of calamity and personal disaster. For many around the world, Life is looking pretty bleak. Whether it's the devastation of the fires that ravaged California, the devastation in North Carolina, the never ending 'plan-demic', international wars, or personal crisis and emotional pain, I'm sure we have all asked the question, 'God, where are you in the midst of this mess' (Ex. 17:6,7)? And if you're real, can you make yourself known so I can get out of it!?' Over the next five days, after today, I'm going to tie the Exodus story with family crisis and abuse...hopefully, it'll be an eye opener for each of us on how to handle 'life's challenging' circumstances (Rom. 15:4; 2 Tim. 3:16,17 :-)

Circumstances of life bring with it a common response that all these type of events come from the evil one. However, King David, had a different view (Psa. 71:20).

"You, who have shown me great and severe troubles, shall revive me again,
and bring me up from the depth of the earth" (Psa. 71:20)

It’s during these times that Yahweh shows/ra’ah Himself the clearest. No situation we find ourselves in overwhelms Him. Yet, it’s in these overwhelming situations that He shows Himself the clearest. It’s the time when Yahweh is working out His purposes the clearest in my life.

Being conformed into the image of His dear Son (Rom. 8:29) is no different than coal metaphorically, being turned into a diamond; it takes just the right amount of heat and pressure to squeeze out the impurities. God shows/ra’ah me troubles and distresses, and these events are shown to me for the sake of reflection and contemplation that I might turn my gaze and dependence on Him.

The air-conditioned pew is nice. Warm-fuzzies in sweet fellowship are like hot chocolate on a cold winter morning in Michigan. Praise services lift our spirits higher and higher. But, when the dungeon of life is experienced, when the proverbial nails are driven into your hands and feet, when the prison shackles are cutting into the flesh, when the stones are flying, it's then that we need to step back and see the hands of the Almighty at work, that’s really seeing/ra’ah.

In this week's Torah portion va'era, we notice that God sees a whole lot more than we see and He reveals Himself just as David testified; more clearly than we could ever imagine. And, oftentimes what we see isn’t what He sees. To Moses and the Israelites He appeared/vaera in a way that He never did to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob or any of the 12 boys (Ex. 6:2,3). And His revelation to both Moses and Israel happened just as it happens today. Huh? No way! Yah-way! More this week :-)

Whether it's media hype or real tragedy, Yahweh Elohim/the Lord our God wants to manifest Himself in our lives far beyond an intellectual or theoretical sense; beyond an ethereal, untouchable realm. He’s going to reveal Himself so we can know/yada Him intimately. He wants us to have a vibrant, on-going relationship with Him and He wants it so badly that He will actually step out of eternity into time; out of His realm into ours. He’ll make Himself known in our tangible, physical, temporal worlds and He’ll use all kinds of circumstances to keep the lines of communication and fellowship open and flowing!

Yahweh specializes in lifting us up out of the gobbledygook of life and appearing/va’era at just the right time; in just the right way. As Moses took a second look at a natural event, the burning bush, God is waiting for each of us to stop long enough to look to see the supernatural in the midst of the natural in order to reveal His presence in the midst of your life! The question I need to ask myself, as I prepare to head to Honduras: "will I be looking for His appearance/vaera in the natural events of life?"

Prayer appreciated!

Keep your head on a swivel...He's revealing Himself to those who are looking!

Shalom