Eyes Wide Open
"Come over here! There's room for you!"
Like junior high girls at a sleepover, Karla, Darlene, Monique, and I talked and giggled even though it was late and we should have been asleep. The only difference between this and a slumber party was that we were under mosquito nets in a cockroach-infested building in the middle of the nowhere Nicaragua.
Karla, a translator fluent in both English and Spanish, parted her mosquito net so that I could crawl into her bunk with her and Darlene, another translator. I think they slept in the same bed because Darlene was afraid of the cockroaches or something. Monique gently swung in her hammock, which was also wrapped in a mosquito net. To the light of a dim flashlight tucked into the bunk above us, we talked, laughed, and told stories together late into the night.
Our conversation roamed from topic to topic, seemingly random, meaningless, and often ending in bursts of girly laughter. Yet when the conversation turned spiritual, we hardly noticed. It seemed so natural to talk about the Lord and our faith.
We eventually found our way into talking about the Lord's ever-presence. Karla said something that I will never forget. "We have a saying here in Nicaragua that goes like this: Always keep your eyes wide open because you never know when the Lord will pass by."
When we finally bid goodnight and I wrapped up into my own hammock for the night, I lay awake and thought about that. Always keep your eyes wide open. You never know when the Lord will pass by. He is always passing by! I need to keep my eyes wide open all the time so I don't miss it.
One of my very favorite things about God is His involvement in the lives of people. Isn't it amazing that God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe who holds the cosmos in constant balance, chooses to invest Himself in the little, simple lives of His created people? I have heard it said that God is both infinite and intimate. The fact that He would take notice of us is incredible enough, and He goes above and beyond that to actually stoop down from His heavenly throne and work in our hearts, His spiritual throne. Our God is actively working and involving Himself in our own lives! That is what sets Him apart from all other gods. That's what makes Him the real deal.
He chooses to pass by so that we can see Him, but sometimes I think He does more than just pass by. He is a constant presence surrounding us and working around us, through us, and in us. All we have to do is open our eyes and look around. Jillian Edwards' song titled "Songbird" says, "Just try and look around, see you in our breaths and hear you in our sounds." He is nearer than we may think.
God Himself is so great - His character, His nature, His attributes, His personality. Who He is in and of itself is unfathomable. What is more is that He chooses to reveal that unfathomably awesome self to us. If we just knew about Him, we would be in awe of who He is based on everything we heard. But He wants to do more than just tell us about Himself, He wants to show us! He passes by and reveals Himself to us personally and intimately.
Let's keep our eyes wide open. This is something I know we don't want to miss.
Like junior high girls at a sleepover, Karla, Darlene, Monique, and I talked and giggled even though it was late and we should have been asleep. The only difference between this and a slumber party was that we were under mosquito nets in a cockroach-infested building in the middle of the nowhere Nicaragua.
Karla, a translator fluent in both English and Spanish, parted her mosquito net so that I could crawl into her bunk with her and Darlene, another translator. I think they slept in the same bed because Darlene was afraid of the cockroaches or something. Monique gently swung in her hammock, which was also wrapped in a mosquito net. To the light of a dim flashlight tucked into the bunk above us, we talked, laughed, and told stories together late into the night.
Our conversation roamed from topic to topic, seemingly random, meaningless, and often ending in bursts of girly laughter. Yet when the conversation turned spiritual, we hardly noticed. It seemed so natural to talk about the Lord and our faith.
We eventually found our way into talking about the Lord's ever-presence. Karla said something that I will never forget. "We have a saying here in Nicaragua that goes like this: Always keep your eyes wide open because you never know when the Lord will pass by."
When we finally bid goodnight and I wrapped up into my own hammock for the night, I lay awake and thought about that. Always keep your eyes wide open. You never know when the Lord will pass by. He is always passing by! I need to keep my eyes wide open all the time so I don't miss it.
One of my very favorite things about God is His involvement in the lives of people. Isn't it amazing that God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe who holds the cosmos in constant balance, chooses to invest Himself in the little, simple lives of His created people? I have heard it said that God is both infinite and intimate. The fact that He would take notice of us is incredible enough, and He goes above and beyond that to actually stoop down from His heavenly throne and work in our hearts, His spiritual throne. Our God is actively working and involving Himself in our own lives! That is what sets Him apart from all other gods. That's what makes Him the real deal.
He chooses to pass by so that we can see Him, but sometimes I think He does more than just pass by. He is a constant presence surrounding us and working around us, through us, and in us. All we have to do is open our eyes and look around. Jillian Edwards' song titled "Songbird" says, "Just try and look around, see you in our breaths and hear you in our sounds." He is nearer than we may think.
God Himself is so great - His character, His nature, His attributes, His personality. Who He is in and of itself is unfathomable. What is more is that He chooses to reveal that unfathomably awesome self to us. If we just knew about Him, we would be in awe of who He is based on everything we heard. But He wants to do more than just tell us about Himself, He wants to show us! He passes by and reveals Himself to us personally and intimately.
Let's keep our eyes wide open. This is something I know we don't want to miss.
Comments
Post a Comment