“‘For to us a child is born, to us a son is given’ Isaiah 9:6 (Erickson, 41).”
I had selected another day that I gravitated towards when I volunteered to be a part of this Advent Blog. As it worked out, that day was already taken and this day five that had been left unchosen, ended up choosing me.
I reached into the depths of my memory to try to memorialize the most profound moments in my life when I felt the presence of God. I have always sought to see his face during the most difficult or challenging times or at times when I felt I was just drifting apart from my relationship with him. I have many experiences of seeing his face with great clarity at times when I needed it the most. It wasn’t every time or always at that moment in time, but it came, his presence was just what I needed to regain hope, resilience, and patience.
As I prayed more and went deeper into thought, simple, normal days came to mind. I thought of my mother scratching the back of my head while reading me a story. I thought of my father bouncing me on his knee with his rumbling voice amplifying a treacherous and most dangerous adventure. I thought of the ocean and growing up on the beach. I thought of so many memories of my wife and the two children we were so blessed to bring into this world. I thought of the hummingbirds, sparrows, and crows I had coffee with this morning, along with family and other people in my life. I even thought of this week’s sermon at La Sierra University Church that I had to watch online as I was a bit under the weather.
What Erickson calls “presence not withheld” has been evident in every area of my life, in both the good times and the bad. Thinking of it all made me feel very blessed! I believe that “presence not withheld” is in our lives every day and that when we are willing to look for it and, even more importantly, willing to see it, we will ultimately find it is there, with all of us. As Matthew 1:23 says, “they will call him Immanuel (which means “God with us”).
I love that I see Jesus’ face when I have the will to seek it. Even if it is just my willingness to see it that makes it appear, it strengthens my faith. Every other memory of presence I sorted through was not that of the face of our invisible God though. It was everyday people, places, and things, along with that connectedness, that filled me with hope, peace, love, and joy.
I’m going to be more intentional about giving my own “presence not withheld” to those in my life in this coming new year. I hope all of us in our church community will do the same.
Bill McMahon, his daughter, McKenzie, and son, Michael, are thankful to be part of the La Sierra University Church family.