Expecting God to show up(sic)
*At my church several of our well intentioned staff members have used the above term to describe times when something good happens in a group in which they have been leading or participating...or it will be used as a salutation.
I have found it quite amusing that our "leaders" describe their experience with the Spirit in this way.
For I believe that God has "shown up" since "in the beginning"--since the earth and fullness thereof, was created. After all, way down through the centuries, when Moses the great leader of Israel asked what is His name--the response came back in the form of the Tetragrammaton, *YHWH*..."I am that I am."
My belief is that we are the ones who must make the effort to "show up"!
"The Great I Am"--has been showing up every second of every day since before there were human beings on the planet who could even have expectations.
I suppose the expectation that I should be tilted to the Knowledge that He lives within my heart & essential self is worthy of my attention and focus, but to say I am "expecting God to show up"-as if He might not--doesn't seem to express what I believe and have come to KNOW about the Creator.
What I need to do is to make effort to become fully awake and attentive, so that I don't miss the times when He is speaking to me in that still, small voice...or in the gentle breeze of His Spirit. "I am" is always here...that is what I expect, the question is--am I "showing up" to receive His gentle prompting or direct message?
I have found it quite amusing that our "leaders" describe their experience with the Spirit in this way.
For I believe that God has "shown up" since "in the beginning"--since the earth and fullness thereof, was created. After all, way down through the centuries, when Moses the great leader of Israel asked what is His name--the response came back in the form of the Tetragrammaton, *YHWH*..."I am that I am."
My belief is that we are the ones who must make the effort to "show up"!
"The Great I Am"--has been showing up every second of every day since before there were human beings on the planet who could even have expectations.
I suppose the expectation that I should be tilted to the Knowledge that He lives within my heart & essential self is worthy of my attention and focus, but to say I am "expecting God to show up"-as if He might not--doesn't seem to express what I believe and have come to KNOW about the Creator.
What I need to do is to make effort to become fully awake and attentive, so that I don't miss the times when He is speaking to me in that still, small voice...or in the gentle breeze of His Spirit. "I am" is always here...that is what I expect, the question is--am I "showing up" to receive His gentle prompting or direct message?
Comments
have been interested in the ego lately which is the reason why i think some say things like "waiting for God to show up" are said -- making spirituality about us. Perhaps it has just become jargon, which is actually even worse because essentially people are then just living a cookie-cutter type spirituality, which to me is no spirituality at all -- we are our own enemy.
This is one of my most favorite quotes by Richard Rohr -- it grounds me.
"Conversion, the movement toward the Lord, ia a process of
disenchantment with the ego, recognizing how truly afraid and poor it is.
The only way people can ever be freed from their fears is to be freed from
themselves. There is almost a complete correlation between the amount of
fear in our lives and the amount of attachment we have to ourselves. The
person who is beyond fear has given up the need to control or possess.
That one says, I am who I am in God's eyes -- nothing more, nothing less. I
don't need to impress you because I am who I am, and not who you think I
am -- or who I think I am.
That's what the Pauline Theology of Baptism is saying: You have died,
you're dead (Romans 6:3-5). In Christ you don't need the false self. You
have faced the enemy once and for all and, guess what? It's You!"
rachel
First staff members are not the only ones using the phrase. I think that's an important fact to remember, especially during these days of criticism and scrutiny. Perhaps our staff originated it at Calvary, but permit me to examine why it has taken hold in the way that you deplore in your post.
Some of us, even ones who know that God is always present in our lives, love that moment of delightful reminder when it becomes clear that God has yet again been faithful in keeping his promise to be among us. I have experienced such moments at Neighborhood Bible Club, life group, and chaotic times in my own "overstuffed" life. I've also heard them called "aha!" moments. Rather than berate myself for having a big ego (which most of us do have, in fact) or using jargon that oversimplifies what just happened, I prefer to feel grateful. I'm tired of our tendency to get hung up over words, and of the way we use them against each other.
We also frequently use the phrase "plugged in" and "in this place" at the end of our sentences! And years ago many cars driven by Christians wore bumper stickers saying "I found it!"-- implying that we discovered God and that God exists because we finaly took notice. Silly? Absolutely. But I don't know whether it offends God as much as it does us....just a thought.
Thanks for providing me with a worthwhile subject to think about!