The Power of Place
The Power of Place
On our first date, Linda shared her dream of living and teaching in Colorado. We still chuckle about the memorable moment we shared while eating strawberry pie. At the time, Linda didn’t know that I already had high hopes of influencing her future plans. Little did either of us know that God would entwine our dreams and give each of us the desires of our hearts.
It’s always easier to see God’s plan in retrospect than in prospect! For years, we joked that if we ever got a call to come to Colorado, we’d know it was from God! Well, when the call eventually came, it took us five months to understand that it really was a call from God. We didn’t immediately jump into acceptance of the invitation; we struggled with it.
It was exactly 40 years ago that God led us to Colorado to plant a church, and we never cease to thank Him for the fulfillment of our dreams.
Just this morning, I was once again reminded that God always has a plan. “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.” Acts 17:24
It has often both sobered and inspired me to consider that wherever I am, God is with me. “God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’” Acts 17:27-28.
Have you ever considered that wherever you are, God is at work? As Oswald Chambers reminds us, “Live in a constant state of expectancy and leave room for God to come in as He decides….Be ready for the surprise visits of God.”
While we love and enjoy the beauty of Colorado, we most of all love living in an awareness of God. Looking back, we know that God has been with us in every place we’ve ever lived and served. He’s been with us from the hills of East Tennessee to a tiny church in southern Indiana, to the sandy soil of South Carolina, to the big city of Cincinnati, and now to the beautiful place we’ve called home for the last four decades.
The presence of God is evident everywhere for those who have eyes to see, even in remote or difficult places. This was Jacob’s experience when he encountered the all-powerful God in a remote desert. Jacob was so impressed with his encounter that he actually piled up a bunch of stones to mark the exact spot. Then he changed the name of that spot from Luz to Bethel, which literally means House of God. As the Psalmist said: “We give thanks to you, O God; for your Name is near”… Psalm 75:1
Since God is omnipresent, there is nowhere that He is not!
Sometimes that is stunningly obvious. Many times it is not immediately clear, or it is at least easily overlooked. I know that sometimes I still do that. I must remind myself daily that He is with me in the exact spot where I am at the moment.
He was with me as I awoke again, with my wife snuggling up beside me.
He was with me earlier as I knelt in my sacred space, asking for His blessing.
He is with me right now as I once again enjoy the early morning hours reflecting in my study.
He will be with me later as I walk Molly Brown and then enjoy an hour-long bike ride in the sun.
He will be with me as I meet a special friend for lunch and enjoy an in-depth phone conversation with yet another of my true soul allies.
He will be with us as we share a dinner with a couple we once supported on the mission field that suddenly surprised us with a request to reconnect.
He will be with me as I kneel at the end of the day, thanking Him for His direction and protection.
He will be with us as by God’s grace, Linda and I finish the day as we began it, happily together.
Places are important, but awareness of God’s presence is what brings importance to the place.
Every moment is sacred when we see it as a precious, never-to-be-repeated moment.
Every day is a gift to be invested and enjoyed with God and for God.
Every task is made holy when we embrace it as an opportunity to live in partnership with God.
I am delighted to be living on assignment in the exact place where God has placed me.
How about you?
Grace and Peace,
Alan
