God Moments at Unexpected Times

A couple of nights ago, after we had just put our Dylan to bed, I immediately immersed myself in my web-browsing-evening-routing.  The excursion was a brief one; however, since not a full minute later, Dylan came out of his bedroom and started calling me to go to his room to “see something.”  I’m pleading with him to just go to bed or even just tell me what it was. “Use your words,” I told him, hoping I didn’t have to get up and “go see.”  He wouldn’t have any of it.  So, reluctantly, I got up, grunting all the way there,  hands on my hips, I stood in his doorway waiting to “see,” only to hear him say, “see mama, that’s the song…that’s your favorite song that we hear in your radio, in the car, you and me!  Remember? See?”  Of course I could “see” it.  It was indeed one of my favorite songs playing on the radio, which we leave on tuned-in to the Christian radio station in his room every night while he falls as sleep.  At that moment I realized I had just had a God moment.  Needless to say, I felt terribly guilty for thinking my boy was being just a pest.  I thanked him for “showing” me, tucked him back in bed and as I walked away from his room, I could hear him trying to sing along to the tune of “You love me anyway, O how you love me.” 

God had used my little persistent boy to touch me when I least expected it.  I was not going through any particularly spiritual moment at the time.  All I was seeking was to sit, chill and relax in front of my favorite news blogs, check my e-mail and maybe even see what was going on in the world of Facebook!  Nothing grandiose or illuminating, I was just looking forward to some down time.  His timing is not my timing, but His timing surely is perfect.  When He wants our attention, He uses all sorts of things and situations.  He catches our eye and makes us focus on Him at whatever time is convenient for Him; and He does it in a way that we have no choice but to look at Him and listen to what He has to say.  All we have to do is leaf through Scripture and we find example after example of people whose attention centered on God after He came knocking at the most extraordinary moments and places. 

He called on middle aged shepherds.  Remember Moses?  He was tending his father-in-law’s flock when, there!  A burning bush calling out his name!  How about Jonah?  God sure caught his attention alright!  Jonah refused to do the will of God and God put him in a “time-out” so he’d have plenty of uninterrupted time to think about what he needed to do. 

In other passages we see our Lord inviting Himself over to the house of short-little tax collectors for an unexpected dinner party.  “Zacchaeus, you come down!”  Other times He used the least ideal of circumstances to reveal the most astounding truth.  For instance, I don’t think John went to the island of Patmos looking for a beach resort and some quiet time to write a book. 

God revealed Himself to all these people in the Bible in astonishing ways and at unbelievable locations, precisely because He knows that the unexpected always catches our attention.  And He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, which means, He still does!  He can and does use anything and anybody to speak to us.  The amazing thing is that when He calls, there is not much more for us to do than to listen.  Even in the middle of our hectic and crazy lives, He always finds a way to catch our attention, and it is always for a good reason.  Can we recognize Him in the unexpected?  Can we “see” Him calling?  I bet we can!