Where Did You Find God Today?

Coming over a hill the ribbon of road stretched to a highway far in the distance. Sunlight shone on the automobiles that zipped along it. They all glimmered like tiny drops of silver mercury rushing through an invisible tube. From that distance, it was hard to decipher which one was a brand new luxury car just off the lot and which ones were clunkers with dents and scrapes. I couldn’t tell if some were blue, black, white or red. I could barely determine if any were a truck or an SUV.They all looked the same.

So many people identify themselves with the cars they drive. The brand, the age, the style all seem to identify who they are and what life they lead. Ranchers and construction workers want that manly, hefty truck. What teenage boy, or middle-aged man, doesn’t desire a sporty one with a humming engine?  Moms with kids and too many errands want an SUV or a wagon. Business people want the luxury cars that symbolize they are important and successful. Yet from a distance, they all look alike.

“The Lord looks down from heaven and sees the whole human race. From his throne he observes all who live on the earth. He made their hearts, so he understands everything they do.” Psalm 33.13-15 (NLT)

Unlike my human eyes, God sees the difference from a distance, and up close. But He doesn’t just look at the outside. He peers into the heart, where our true self-image lies. He isn’t fooled by the material objects we gather around us the way kids herd fluffy soap bubbles in a bathtub.

How do you want people to see you? Are you being defined by the material things you have accumulated–or not yet done so but covet? Or, are you being defined by the way God is refining you into something more precious than gold? Does your validity depend on the precious metals, jewels and stocks  in your portfolio, or by the fact that your wallet always seems  empty? Or is your wealth an inner one, knowing that you are like a pearl of inestimable price worth dying for to your Lord and Savior?

How do people look at you? Will you just be another glimmering drop in the sea of humanity, like those cars on the highway I saw from a distance? Or will you be a beacon that shines from within because of Christ’s light burning inside of you?

Today, as I looked in the distance onto a highway, God reminded me the important things in life are not the material ones. In what way has God spoken to you today?