"And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."
Jeremiah 29:13
I once read a devotional book titled Snapshots of God, by Richard W. Coffen. It encouraged me to look for God in my daily life and recognize evidence of His presence and activity. I decided to take on the challenge: to deliberately look for God for a full month and write down how He showed up for me each day.
So, what happened?
First, I noticed that whenever I drove to a place where parking was scarce, I always found a space near the entrance. That is a huge blessing in the city. Next, I realized that if I was having a bad day, a friend would unexpectedly stop by and cheer me up. Third, I noticed my social life was full and exciting. There wasn’t a weekend I didn't have plans. I found that I had something to write down every day throughout that month as I looked for daily snapshots of God. What Psalm 145:18 says is so true: "The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth."
God is ever present and working for our good, but because of the hustle and bustle of life, we go about our days as if God were a very distant Being, and we miss all of His goodness. We tend to focus only on the crisis or the missing piece in our lives, whatever it is we are praying for. Our perception needs to be clearer. We should be seeing God every day. Every hour of the day. And we will, if we take time to look.
After completing this challenge, I began to reflect more deeply on the blessings God had given me that I had taken for granted, such as my health, family, friends, and the love I experienced in my relationships. God had already been present and active in my life, giving me so many reasons to be grateful. I had forgotten that every breath I take is itself a blessing from Him (Job 33:4).
Call to Action
I encourage you to take on this challenge. Get a calendar and write down the daily snapshots of God you observe. Whatever you experience that day that you know is a blessing from God, or whatever you see God do on your behalf, write it down. Each month you do this, may you become increasingly aware of God's goodness.
Jesus came to give us life—and to give it more abundantly (John 10:10).
Let’s realize our abundant life!
All scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
