So, how can we clearly See God? 

Luke chapter 10 verses 41-42 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Jesus helps us to know that to see God more clearly we need to sit at His feet. 

-Jesus shared with Martha that Mary had made the right choice in sitting at His feet. In His loving correction of Martha, we learn from Jesus that cultural norms aren’t the same as God’s. 

-Matthew 6:33 NIV  “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Again, Jesus helps us to know that to see God more clearly we need to seek Him first above all the distractions.

-Let’s be real, there’s a lot to deal with in life, right? We have bills, groceries, family, work, and the list goes on. With all there is to take care of, it’s easy to get distracted. Just like Martha who was tending to things that were truly needed and in so doing missed out on the best of all… sitting at the feet of Jesus. 

A couple of weeks ago God provided me with a story to illustrate this very point.

After a taxing weekend, I felt drawn to take my Monday to be with Jesus. There had been so many days with many tasks to complete and my mind was just done. 

My day started with grocery shopping; not really a restful errand but it needed to be done nonetheless. Following shopping and then a quick bite of lunch, I gave into my urge to go for a nice long walk. The sun was shining. It was a little chilly, nothing a hat and gloves couldn’t take care of. Not far down the road, I said, “Jesus, I really wish You were walking beside me in the flesh so I could see You with my own eyes and hear from You with my own ears. I really just want to be with You in person.”

I continued walking, not really thinking of anything, just enjoying nature and the sunshine. My stride was pretty laid back, more like a stroll. After reaching my usual turn around spot, I crossed the road and began walking back toward home. I came to a side road that I had never walked down before but I sensed a strong nudge to do so that day. Wanting to be obedient to Holy Spirit’s nudge, I ventured down the new path for a short distance. Feeling a release to do so, I turned around to resume my trek toward home. Before reaching the end of the side road, I sensed God whispering to me, “I want you to go down a new road, to try something new.”

 “Oh, okay God,” I replied. I continued walking as I listened for more from Holy Spirit.

The road I was traveling on is a gravel backroad with little traffic. I came to a curve and sensed a strong need to stop and then turned to my left where I saw many leaf bare trees. I had never really stopped to pay any attention to what was beyond the road in that area. This made me curious as to why I was to look at it then. Suddenly, I realized with all the tree’s branches bare, I could see through them and see clearly what was beyond them. A thought crossed my mind that in this season of winter, the leaves were gone and I could see things I couldn’t see before.

“Wow, God, that’s interesting,” I heard myself say out loud.

I continued walking at my leisurely pace and came to another spot where I sensed God stopping me to observe. In this spot, I again could see through the trees. Only here, beyond the trees I could see a river and on the other side of the river, a white house. Again, during the warmer months I can’t see the river or the white house through the trees full of leaves. So as I continued towards home, many thoughts occurred to me. 

-The leaves on the trees represented the distractions of life, the good and the bad. 

-I need the winter/lacking seasons where the distractions are removed to enable me to see clearly the things I can’t see during the warm/busy seasons.

-Sometimes God will remove the distractions so I can truly see Him more clearly. 

-I had to leave my house to see these things. My vantage point had to change for me to see clearly what God wanted to show me. 

-Even though I couldn’t have Jesus in the flesh on my walk and hear His audible voice, I was still able to receive a strong message from the Lord that left me feeling the Truth of His presence with me.

Seeking God’s presence helps us to see Him more clearly.

Is there something distracting you?

We can find ourselves distracted by our to-do list, and even start to believe our identity is wrapped up in that list. Please hear me, I’m not saying we have to throw away the crazy list. I’m saying that when we find ourselves seeking our identity through what we do for our family, or even for God, we can’t see the Father clearly. If we can’t see God clearly, it’s near impossible to see ourselves clearly because we are created in His image.

#soulcarecoach