God is Sneaking Around

This past weekend I was invited to do a Search and Rescue Briefing with friends and allies in the western part of NC.  I love guiding folks through the Larger Story their story is in and connecting with those hearts wanting to connect to God’s.

The plan was meet with several couples on Saturday night for dessert and conversation around Search and Rescue then step into Sunday morning for two messages; part one of the morning was with the combined adult Sunday school classes then step into the worship service for part two.  Now I have had many encounters, run-ins, quiet moments, conversations, interruptions and disruptions from the One who loves me most… and I have been on the receiving end of countless small and large gifts from a Father who seems to take great joy in either dropping gifts in my lap or putting them in my path to stumble upon.  I believe He loves sneaking around and giving gifts, the kind that if we’ll open them will fill our hearts with both Love and Life.  The trick is to catch Him in the act.

So it’s Sunday morning, the church has been through the welcome moments, the announcements and now we are singing.  I’m the guest speaker and the only thing I’m certain of is the notes in my hand.  The voices sound wonderful and the music is an invitation to shed some of the weight of the world and I’m up next on the morning schedule.  The music transitions to the next song and the worship leader says a few encouraging things and then it arrives, right in the middle of church, right in the center of my lap.  The Father drops a present with my name on it just for me.

Three years ago I started writing a book.  It was, and is a wonderful part of my life journey with God and He and I met over many cups of coffee and in many locations to pull the book together.  There were dozens of moments when I would push away from the keys of the computer or the times before I would lock down in my office to write another entry that I would take a long walk in the woods, well actually it was me, my dog, my IPod and my God that often, pre and post writing, hit the trail together.  There was one song that I would play more than any other, even push repeat to hear it over and over again in those woods.  If there was a theme song to Search and Rescue, the Grammy would go to this one.

Back to church… I’m standing there, in the front row, in the transition to the next song and I unwrap my gift, it arrived and was unwrapped the very second I recognized the next song.  In the eyes of my heart, I believe the Father was standing next to Jesus and nudges him with an elbow… “Watch this, this is going to be soooo good, Michael is going to love this.”  Sure enough, He was right, I absolutely did!  In that moment with the song starting its first words, God whispered to me, “I see you and I made you for this moment your about to share, remember our walks?  Go tell them what you’ve discovered, what we have shared.”  Later that Sunday afternoon, when all the folks were gone and the last hand shake was exchanged and I was on my drive home, the Father and I talked about the morning and I told Him how wild He is and how much I loved my present… He told me (again) how much he loves me.

I just love it when I catch God sneaking around in my life.