“Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.” --Matthew 7:7

Where do you find God?

Have you ever walked across campus after an early morning snowfall, gazing up at tall pines covered in white, and felt that the whole world is a cavernous hall echoing the whispers of the divine?

Have you ever sat in church before communion, soaking in the minister’s “This is my body, broken for you,” as it oozes over the wounds of your heart and salves your soul?

Have you ever cried in the night, cried until all you could do was chant the 23rd Psalm from childhood over and over in the dark until it lulled you to sleep?

Last weekend in California, one young woman in the workshop I facilitated wanted to know how we all came to be people of faith. How could we know Christianity was the way for us? Where was the proof? How could we be so comfortable in our beliefs when there were so many other things out there?

The other participants gave her many insights as I listened. Critiques of their journeys through other faith traditions, points about their ability to find a personal relationship with Christ. The nourishment they found in the Presbyterian fold. It was a good conversation, one that I felt the working of the Holy Spirit prompted. But I remained silent.

Perhaps I kept my thoughts hidden because my answer isn’t what we like to hear. But when the woman asked her question, only one thought came to my mind—I have been to the bottom, and it is sound. I believe because I found God in the most difficult moments of my life, the moments when my shattered soul stood completely alone. It was in those times that the God incarnate, the God who suffered, the God who rose again in joy and triumph, became real, and continues to be real as I struggle through daily life.

Sometimes we have to seek, and sometimes God just seems to find us along the road. I can’t prove my faith. I can’t give you answers to your questions. I can only be a witness: in my valley of the shadow, God was there.

“For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” --Matthew 7:8

Kelsey

Kelly that was a very beautiful testimony to your faith in Jesus Christ. Thank you.
Viola Larson