God sightings
Each week in my women’s Bible study small group (nicknamed: Young and Sassy! YAS for short — yeah, we’re cool like that), we start off the night sharing “God sightings.” I’m not sure anyone in our group has actually seen God physically, but we share moments of how we see His work in our lives and around us. In the past six years, I have heard stories all across the spectrum. Stories of exhausted girls who received a free cup of coffee out of the blue, to girls whose ovarian cysts were healed overnight. Each story, whether simple or miraculous, builds the bricks of my faith foundation. It also gives me insight into the depth of God’s character, love, and kindness.
I’m involved in another Bible study class on Monday nights (hey, what else are you supposed to do when you’re not working?) and tonight was the last class of the year. This international program, called Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), meets across the world. From September until May, everyone studies the same book of the Bible. This year, we studied John. I just joined BSF in late March, but it has been so neat going through the last chapters of John in-depth. Tonight was a “Sharing Night” where the women shared how God has moved in their lives through the study of John all year.
I wish you were sitting next to me there. Women told stories with tears in their eyes of how they had experienced Jesus as their “good shepherd” (John 10:11). I know we often see that photo of Jesus carrying a soft, woolly lamb on His shoulders, but shepherds are so much more than that. They watch all sheep all day, making sure they don’t fall off cliffs (sheep aren’t the brightest animals). They guide their sheep to food and streams of water. Shepherds are on guard at night, protecting their sheep from predators and thieves. Their role is active and personal and they know what each sheep needs.
Women told stories of how Jesus’s patience and kindness with His disciples (also not the brightest bunch) touched their hearts. When Jesus was crucified, many of his disciples fled out of fear. Instead of being angry at them when he was resurrected, Jesus’s first greeting to them was “Peace!” (John 20:19). Women told stories of the worthiness they felt when Jesus first appeared to women after His resurrection (John 20:16). Women were not very highly revered in Jesus’s day. But Jesus loved them. Others told stories of how Jesus spoke to them so personally through words of the Bible and the experiences they had gone through this year.
I raised my hand to share. Although new to the study, I had been praying for Jesus to reveal His heart to me over the past few months. I had always felt like Jesus was disappointed in me and that I wasn’t enough. So I’ve been asking Jesus to show me what He’s really like and what He thinks of me. Because I joined BSF in late March, I’ve only studied the last chapters of John which have mostly focused on Jesus’s death, burial and resurrection. But man, Jesus has answered my prayer.
What I learned through the in-depth study is how Jesus was in control of every detail of his death (even details written 700 years ago). The precise way His death happened, His burial, and His resurrection confirm He is who He says He is. That’s all really neat and important, but this is the real “God sighting” for me. He did it all for love. He did it all willingly because He loves me. Because He loves you. Because He loves all of us. Right where we’re at. He was in control of his death and, yes, it was hard, but He did it for love. His love for us is so deep and I’m only beginning to glean it. God is in every detail and His character is loving-kindness. We live in a messed up world, yes, but our God is a restorer and redeemer and lover of our souls. He has a beautiful plan and invites us into it. And it’s all because of love.
Ask Him to show you. Ask Him to reveal His true heart to you, His love to you. He delights in lavishing His love. Ask Him to open your eyes to see it. Keep asking. Don’t lose hope. He loves you so much. As you sleep tonight, I’m praying that He begins to give you a glimpse into the love He has for you. It’s so deep and so rich and so beautiful. You are His masterpiece and He adores you. Ask Him for your very own “God sighting” this week.
Joyfully,
Lauren
