For me, it is all about recognizing Christ through the little things in life like the cotton candy sky as the sun sets, or when a stranger smiles at you, or that first sip of coffee in the morning before a long day. The sign that Christ is present is not necessarily going to be some sort of grand gesture, but rather us recognizing Him in the people and things we encounter everyday.
Christ is constantly sending us these small signs that He is present, but in order to recognize Him we have to take the time to slow down our fast paced lives. We are all so consumed by our phones, the social media posts and other distractions that we often forget to recognize that Christ is sitting right next to us. Much like Martha was more worried about cleaning her home for Jesus (Luke 10:38-42), our distractions get in the way of recognizing Christ in our own home.
Once we begin to pay more attention to our surroundings and take the time out of our day to appreciate Christ’s presence, we are able to see the ordinary as something extraordinary.
During freshman year, a friend shared with me and a few others that a teacher of hers did not believe in coincidences, but rather “God Incidents.” For some reason this term has stuck with me ever since and this woman who I have never met before inspired me to try and see what I used to consider coincidences were instead God acting in the event Himself.
These small signs or God incidents are great reminders in our everyday lives to calm down, pray, and He will tell us. As I was reflecting on examples of how Christ has presented himself to me on an ordinary scale, I flashed back to a moment last semester that happened while I was abroad in Costa Rica.
It was my last day in Costa Rica, I had just said goodbye to a couple friends before they left for the airport and was walking back to my host family’s home to pack my own belongings. As I was walking up the hill on the route I walked everyday for the past four months, I spent those moments taking it all in one last time. I also took that time to thank God for the incredible adventure and his abundance of blessings during my time in Costa Rica. While in mid prayer and thoughts a man walking towards me on the sidewalk decided to greet me and introduce himself to me. We exchanged a lovely, yet very ordinary conversation for a couple minutes, ending in him embracing me and wishing me safe travels. Although there was nothing really unusual in this encounter, I walked away recognizing it as a sign from God that I was right where I belonged. I was able to recognize Christ in this stranger because I was present in that moment.
Can you imagine how often we would see Christ if we just slowed down every once in awhile and stopped trying to do everything at once? I know this can sometimes seem impossible because there is already so little time in a day and we’re all trying to fit school, work, extracurriculars, and a social life into this small time frame.
So, I do not think the ultimate challenge here is to try and make more time in our busy schedules for Christ. Let us hear the words that Jesus said to Martha, “you are anxious and worried about many things, but there is need of only one thing.” That one thing is recognizing Christ as already and always present in our everyday lives and that therefore we are never alone.
