Daily Devotions

“But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. Matthew 24:36-44

You just never know when God will show up.

I know these verses from Matthew, as well as the parables soon to come in the 25^th chapter, open the door to speculation about the end of time as we know it, the reappearance of Jesus, the last judgment, the sheep and the goats, the lake of fire, the 7^th seal, David Koresh and Waco, Harold Camping’s latest mathematical shot in the dark, and on and on it goes.

I say…enough already.  Let’s keep this very simple – you just never know when God will show up.  It is enough to know that and that is enough for us to adjust our lives accordingly.

You just never know when God will show up.  Notice – the bold words are show up. 

We believe that God is always everywhere at all times.  There is nowhere we can go where God is not already there, as well as having been accompanying our every step along the way.  Psalm 139 reminds us, “Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.”

And yet, for most of our lives, for most of the time, we live unconscious of God’s presence.  We’re far too focused on ourselves, our lives, our problems, our schedules, our agendas.  God is an after-thought at best.  God might be right there but we simply don’t realize it.  Until God suddenly shows up.  That is, until God bursts out of hiding in ways that are usually entirely unexpected and not always entirely welcomed.

Unless we are ready for God to show up.  For if we live our lives in the expectation that God is always present, always there, we are far more likely to “see” life in an entirely different way.  God will suddenly show up in a friend who needs our help or a friend who can help us.  God shows up when we see meaning in the fog of our daily routines.  God shows up in whispers and nudges and coincidences and calamities and caring faces where we least expect them.

We do well to live in the expectation that we just never know when God will show up.  We don’t need Harold Camping’s math any more than we benefit from sneaking a peak at a Christmas present.  The joy is in the surprise.

Let us pray:  Dear Lord, thank you for those little moments that reveal yourself, your presence and your love to us.  Thank you for the grace that opens our eyes to see what seems so clouded to the world.  Remove our fears and replace them with a joyful sense of expectation that is firmly grounded in your love.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

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