In places you didn't even realize he'd been

Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. (Ecclesiastes 11:5)

The activities of God in your life are frequently hard to see, much less understand. You might try to understand them the best you can, but in actuality the movement of God in and through you is often 'silent' or 'hidden'. In medical terms, we'd say his actions are 'occult' - hidden, but present nonetheless. When we don't see God at work, or 'feel' he is at work, we can still count on the truth that he is there, working as he always has been, doing what he knows is best for our lives.

God does more within us than we realize. We just go about our daily routine, regular stuff being done by regular people, but he is at work in all the ways we don't see, but that help us actually get that 'regular stuff' done. He gives us wisdom in the moment when we need it. He gives us stamina to go beyond what we might imagine possible in our own strength or ability. He brings us joy in the simplest of ways. He renews our hope when we seem to lose hope in the natural sense. His movements may not see all that 'big' or 'phenomenal' at the moment, but they are exactly what we needed when we needed it most.

At times, we see God move in BIG ways. We know for certain that it was God that accomplished that deliverance from the car accident that should have resulted in catastrophic injuries, but we walked away with nothing more than a scratch. It was God that brought us that promotion just when we needed the extra finances every month to make those ends meet. It was his intervention that helped us restore a broken relationship that we thought was beyond repair. We don't know how he does what he does, but we sure can see that he has been at work when we 'look back' and take notice of all the things that were totally out of our control.

We can never assume we don't have the resources we need because if God's Spirit dwells within us, we do! The more we look for God in our day, the more we will begin to realize where he is working, what he is doing, and how he is using events, people, and even our own actions to accomplish the things he desires - the things we need within our lives. The actions of God don't always have to be BIG - it is the small ways he intervenes that often make our day that much more productive, pleasant, and purposeful. The freedoms we enjoy because he has intervened are innumerable. We are free because he has set us free and continues to keep us free of the obstacles that would attempt to derail us from our intimate relationship with him.

Most of the time, we don't stop to consider what he is doing. We just live life and go about our regular routine, oblivious to his interventions. The more we look at what he has done, the greater our celebration of his goodness and grace will be, for we will see he has been there in our day, at work as he always is, doing what we never even considered or thought we needed. So, look back today. What has God accomplished? What has he shown you today about himself? Where was he when you didn't even know he was present? When you stop long enough to consider him, you find him in places you didn't even realize he had been! Just saying!