“Mommy, look! There’s Jesus!” my 5-year-old at the time said as he pointed to the sky. Taken aback, I quickly looked out the front window.

Early that morning, I had asked God to reveal Himself to me during the day. Boy did He ever. It was a hot and humid summer afternoon, and my heart skipped a beat at my son’s outburst. He then proceeded to name animals and characters he saw in the clouds as well.

Even so, that was a lesson for me. It had been a crazy, fretful, exhausting week and I desperately wanted to see Jesus in my day. In fact, I often prayed for that. This one got my attention immediately.

The message for me? God was right in front of me all along. It reminded me that I just had to look.

So how do we find God?

A.W. Tozer once said, “Brain power is not the means by which we find God! It is in our dependence on God that we see Him. He graciously and in love revealed Himself to us.” (A.W. Tozer was an American evangelical pastor, speaker, writer and editor.)

Maybe it’s in our desperation that we sense the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Saul found God

Consider the Apostle Paul. Before he was an apostle, destroying Christians consumed him. He went to great lengths to drag them out of their houses and commit them to prison. On his way to do just that in Damascus, Paul, then Saul — the accuser and one with power and control — lost all control and found himself to be the helpless one. (See Acts 9.)

Blinded and lacking vision, Saul was desperate. In that moment, he found Jesus. One of the men he traveled with led him by hand to Damascus. For three days, he waited without sight, food or drink.

Totally dependent on God, he was rescued by one of the very people he came to persecute. God ordained his disciple, Ananias, to restore Saul’s vision.

According to Scripture, after a discussion with the Lord, Ananias obeyed and laid hands on Saul.

Two things happened. Saul regained his sight. He was filled with the Holy Spirit.

In that unforgettable event, Saul found God.

Jesus didn’t fear Saul’s sin. Instead, he took his darkness, miraculously changed him and welcomed him into the kingdom. Saul still had power but this time he went out with the power of the Holy Spirit to bring light to the world.

God is near

Where do you go to experience the power of the Holy Spirit? Do you feel your life (or part of it) is out of control? 

One day we will see Jesus face-to-face. In the meantime, we can live in the power of the Holy Spirit today.

We can find Him

In our waiting.

In our healing.

When our world comes crashing down.

When we’re walking through a fire.

Or fighting a battle.

Wherever we go, He is beside us. Every moment of the day, He is near.

He is at work in every detail, even in the smallest details of our lives.

“But Jesus replied, “’My Father is always working, and so am I,’” (John 5:17 NLT).

My busyness has often blinded me from recognizing Jesus in my day. The truth is He can show up whenever and wherever, even in a young boy’s imagination.

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