I’ve got to admit something openly. It isn’t easy, but I know it’ll be healing for me and maybe helpful for you. Here goes.

I do not always assume that God is working.

There. I said it. It’s out there now. You just read those words. If you’re feeling some kind of “That’s it?” feeling, let me assure you that I realize you maybe thought I was divulging a skeleton from a dark corner of some closet of my past. Believe it or not, I just did.

For most of my life, I have operated under the assumption that even while I may claim belief in God, and even follow Jesus, and even worship Him regularly, and even gather with other followers of Jesus, and even pray…I have not operated under the continual assumption that He is working. I would say that most of my journey of following Jesus has been akin to seeing a cardinal zip across the blue midday sky; an occasional occurrence marked by wonder but seemingly over as quickly as it began. Until it came around again. Until then, keep trucking. Buy groceries. Brush teeth. Pay bills. Cut the grass. Just…you know…life.

My heart assumed that God showed up and did His God thing sporadically, inconsistently, and, dare I say, haphazardly. You ever watch a night sky with a friend and they yell out, “OH! I shooting star! That was so cool!!! Did you see that?!?” No. You didn’t. Just a *fffttt* and it was gone.

My mind assumed that if I laid all the pieces of surrender and obedience just so, if I plugged all the variables into the equation in just the right way, I could have more of these red cardinal, shooting star sightings. The danger there is that that’s partly true so we think it’s always true. And when we think we’ve nailed the equation and God doesn’t show up…well….that’s a faith-shaker. Basing God’s spiritual prerogative on my spiritual performance is never a good idea. Some of my fellow Gen-X’rs remember the game “Perfection”. Get all the pieces in before the timer runs out. Spiritually speaking, that’s the anxiety that kind of assumption produces (and don’t even get me started on Superfection)!

So here’s what I’m doing. If it helps you, great. If it doesn’t, just know you’re further along than I am.

I’ve changed my assumption from “maybe God will show up today” to “I will see God working today. Not because I say so, but because He is, and I have the choice either to see it or not.”

Now I’m finding God in every conversation, every situation. I’m seeing God work through others for my sake and even through me for the sake of others. Here’s the kicker: God hasn’t changed anything. I’ve changed my assumption about Him; how and when He moves and works. It’s gone from “occasionally” to “now” and “always”.

The safest assumption you can make in your relationship with God is that He is not merely somewhere nearby or that He might possibly pass by like some rare bird, but that in every moment you’re living, there is a true volatility of His Spirit. There is a moving, a happening, a level of activity that clearly indicates His character and His willingness to reveal Himself to you, to me, to us.

Do you want to assume this with me?