Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Jhn 20:29
The space around them suffused with a Presence of holy goodness so tangible it felt liquid rather than air. An intoxicating radiance danced through their bodies and blew waves of goose bumps across their skin. Moses on the cleft of the rock, Solomon in the glory-filled temple, the apostles atop the Mount of Transfiguration, John deep into an apocalyptic trance: encounters with the glory of God that cast spiritual giants from the molds of clay mortals.
Now here I come as common a duffer as any who lived. Secretly I long for my own radical encounter with God. But who am I that I should ask? I am the pathetic sap who cannot keep clean thoughts for three minutes running. Yet Jesus offers me a blessing in faith that can exceed what Moses and Elijah received. He says it comes of believing without seeing. What those who behold undeniable miracles have is not faith; it is experience. Faith is what pleases God (Heb 11:6). I want to be a child that makes Abba Daddy glad. He wants a child with faith born of a trusting and loving heart instead of compelled by miracles. God desires that we love Him, not His pyrotechnics.
I spoke with the Lord on this theme as I performed one of those unspectacular but precious life tasks: walking my 17-month-old grandson in the park. Jesus demonstrated how I could engage as much of His glory in that small moment as in any Mount-Carmel-fire-from-heaven extravaganza. It is beside the calm waters of a simple life where whispers of God’s truth are heard the loudest. The impartations of God’s character through my time with little Jaden were of the kind that penetrate the most deeply. If I can get my heart to look for encounters with God in each bite of plain daily bread, a faith more precious than Moses’ may grow.
Prayer: Lord, give me heroic faith through small things.
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