Monday, September 12, 2011

Monday’s Devotion: O God, Where are You?

Habakkuk 3:2  LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, LORD. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.
This was Habakkuk’s prayer. Perhaps it is one that we pray but only half-heartedly.  A student of the Bible reads of the mighty acts of God.  They encounter a God who walked in the cool of the garden, who parted the Red Sea, who carved commandments into stone, who spoke from a burning bush.  Where is our burning bush?  We wonder if God was once here only to withdraw into heaven?  Did it take a simpler people in a simpler time to discern the presence of God?  We yearn for a sign; someone sees the image of the face of Jesus on a piece of toast or tree trunk and it makes the national news.  Science tries to explain away the theophanies but we believe God spoke from the clouds. We believe the seas parted, that the rains came and that the walls came tumbling down.  We believe in a God of miracles because if there is none who is going to heal and rescue and save?  Maybe God doesn’t act as overtly as recorded in the Old Testament or maybe we have been blinded so by the dazzle of our own creations that we can’t recognize those acts.  But I believe they are there.  God called me to get out of my seat and go to a hurting teenager last weekend even though everything appeared to be fine from my point of view.  His voice didn’t come from a burning bush; it was more an irresistible pull but it was there – something beyond me compelling to act against my inclinations.  Keep looking, keep listening, God is there.
Abba God, we stand in awe of your deeds.  Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known. Open our eyes that we may see thee. We pray in the name of the one who made your presence manifest in the flesh. Amen.

No comments:

Post a Comment