By: Jer
One of the questions I’ve been asking God is: “How are you revealing yourself in the people I encounter?” It’s a question that I don’t always ask, whether out loud or in my head. The questions I might normally ask when I enter into a situation include: “God, how are you working?”, “God, what are you calling me to respond to?”, or “God, what are the issues you see?” These are all good questions, but there’s an underlying theme that I can’t seem to get away from. It’s this: I am often predisposed to see people and/or communities as problems to be fixed. Whether it’s my role as a social worker or the other roles I take on at church, it’s easy for me to identify issues and want to fix them. It’s often my first reference point. Someone will approach me with a problem and expect that I can do something about it. It’s comfortable for me to take on that role, to be in that position of power.
Changing the question has been a struggle for me because it forces me to move past my predisposition to see problems. As I try to pay attention to the image of God in those around me, it means they aren’t just a problem to be fixed or an issue to be resolved. If they have something of God in them, it means they have something to offer me. It means they have something to teach me about God that I can’t get anywhere else. When I choose to ignore this, I miss out on God.
The other day, I was sitting in McDonald’s watching those around me and asking God this question. There were these two older gentlemen who seemed like they were good friends. After an hour or so of wrestling with whether or not I should talk with them, I gather up enough courage to do so. I tried to engage and ask a few simple questions, but I got nowhere. Although I could have sworn they were speaking English before, it was a total bust; I got nothing from them. Yet, as I was reflecting on this afterwards, I wasn’t frustrated because I failed, it was because I felt as though I genuinely missed out on what God could have revealed to me through them.
This feeling of missing out on God is a surprising one for me. It’s surprising because normally I think it’s the other way around. That if I don’t do God’s work, then they miss out on what God is doing. Or even if I don’t go, then I might miss a chance to see what God is doing through them. But, this is different. This suggests that there is something they can offer me because they are carrying with them the image of God.
How might God be revealing Himself in those around you? What does this person show you of God?