You go
before me and follow me. You place your
hand of blessing on my head.
--Psalm
139:5
Have you ever been to a wedding in which the
bride and groom use sand as a symbol of their unity? It has become common in weddings to pour
different colored sand into a larger container, and often to have the pastor
also pour sand of a more neutral color representing the idea that God is also a
part of their union. At a recent
wedding, as the pastor was pouring the “God” sand, he was having trouble
getting the sand to go into the narrow neck of the vase and ended up spilling
quite a bit of the sand onto the table and floor.
Although sand on the table and floor wasn’t the
desired outcome for that wedding, it is a more realistic representation of our
life with God. We may think we have God
contained or figured out, but God doesn’t always do exactly what we want or act
in the ways we might be expecting. God
doesn’t stay in the vase or in any of our boxes or categories. We may only be in the habit of thinking about
God on Sundays or at certain times or in certain places, but, as the writer of
Psalm 139 points out, God goes before us and follows us. God goes with us into every time and place,
into every part of our lives.
It is a challenge to stay connected with God on a
daily basis. One of our big jobs as a church is to help one another with this. One of the reasons we are encouraged to set
aside time daily for Bible reading and prayer is to help us stay connected with
God through the week. The “Our Daily
Bread” booklets our church gives out every quarter give us daily readings and thoughts to
prompt our prayers. There are many email
subscriptions that can help us remember that God is with us wherever we read
our email – at work, school, home, or wherever we are.
How do you stay connected with God every
day? Share your practices in the comments below to help others.
What about staying connected with God is challenging for you? Share your challenges in the comments and together we'll offer ideas.
May the Lord bless you as you seek him!
The eyes of the LORD
search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully
committed to him. --2 Chronicles 16:9
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