Theophany

That is a great word...It is a word that literally means, "a visible manifestation of a deity."

A "visible manifestation."

I am not sure if I really understand that concept. We serve a God who is unseen and yet there are times He shows up and reveals Himself.

Shaking hands with people from New Life church on Sunday afternoon gave me the opportunity to experience a theophany. God manifested Himself in individuals who stood in line to eat lunch following their service on the East Side of Flint.

I feel a little like Jacob in the Old Testament who dreamt of angels on a stairway to heaven. It could have been that he ate something he shouldn't have eaten before drifting off to sleep. It could be that his body was sleeping but his mind was in overdrive. In either case, God showed up.

He wakes from his dreamy sleep and exclaims, "surely the Lord is in this place-and I did not know it." Genesis 28:16

Am I the only one that recognizes the presence of the Lord 20 minutes after He shows up? Am I the only one that realizes His grace looking back on a situation rather than sensing it in the moment that it is happening?

A theophany is the realization that, "surely the Lord is in this place...."

It is one thing to allow ourselves to look at God, but it is another thing to allow God to look back at us. Grace makes both possible.

Truth be told, there have been many more times where I have said like Jacob, "surely the presence of the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it."

I am trying to cultivate a renewed sense of "God's presence and grace" in my life. I am praying that when His presence and grace are close by, I will recognize them.

Here are a several questions that haunt me as I think about the story of Jacob and the escalator of angels.

Do I really believe that God's grace still works in the lives of people who are running away from Him?

Do I really believe that God's grace still pursues those when they pursue their own way?

Do I really beleive that God's grace still finds people when they have lost their way?

Do I really beleive that God's grace illuminates the darkest places of life?

The answer is Yes!

Jacob was right when he said, "surely the presence of the Lord is in this place..." How we respond to that fact shapes our understanding of grace.

Just a thought as I journey through the "unforced rhythms of his grace."