Tender Moments

Every once in awhile, God makes His presence known to me in a tangible way.  It always comes unexpectedly and I call it a God-thing. 

I do not usually attend youth group with my husband, but this last week he invited me to tag along because of a special event they were doing.  And so I did.  We arrived at the church early and to kill some waiting time, I sat down at the piano.  Thumbing through the hymnal, I ended at number 250.  As my fingers stumbled through the notes, the words met the need of my heart.

"Calvary covers it all, my past with its sin and shame.  My guilt and despair, Jesus took on Him there, and Calvary covers it all."  by Mrs. Walter Taylor

My mind often works overtime with self-accusations and in that moment, God reassured me that He had it covered, that "there is now no condemnation in Christ."  (Rom. 8:1) 

That same evening I wandered past the church library's free book table.  Students were arriving and so I quickly grabbed a book that caught my eye by one of my favorite authors, Charles Swindoll, called Hope Again.  It was subtitled, When Life Hurts and Dreams Fade.  Later that night I realized this book was none other than a study on the book of 1 Peter, the one I recently memorized.  Since then I've been soaking up this book and can scarcely put it down. 

These two surprises were like God said to me, "I am here.  I'm not too busy with all the other people in the world to attend to your needs or to know your heart."  And the really special thing about it all?  It was my birthday.  God making His presence known to me was the greatest gift I could ever ask for.  A God-thing.

I think God delights in popping in on us, but so often we fail to notice.  For those of us who know Him, His presence is, in truth, with us always. (Heb. 13:5)  But sometimes He surprises us with an acute awareness of it.  This I love, precious and tender moments with my Savior.