Looking for the Wrong Person

Trent and I were stuck in the Detroit airport waiting for a delayed late-night flight. The guy sitting across from us looked like a college student, and I wondered if he attended Notre Dame. From time to time, we awkwardly made eye contact as we all tried to wait patiently. The plane finally arrived, and we all made it back to South Bend, IN.  The next morning, I needed to fill my empty kitchen with groceries, so I headed to Walmart. As I walked down the aisle, I looked up, and the same guy I had sat across from at the airport the night before was coming down the aisle toward me! We made eye contact again and said hello. Somehow, every aisle I walked down, he was walking toward me the opposite way. We continued to pass each other as we filled up our carts.

The way our paths kept crossing seemed so strange to me. Trent and I had just started planting Gospel City Church, and I wondered if the Lord kept putting this guy in my path so I could invite him to church. I decided that if I saw him again, I would. He was nowhere to be found at the checkout counter, but as I wheeled my cart to my car, guess who had parked right beside me? You got it! The same guy had his trunk open and was placing his grocery bags into his parked car, which was right beside mine!

Wondering what the Lord was up to,  I said, “It’s strange how we keep running into each other. You were in the Detroit airport last night, weren’t you?” He said that he was, and we began to talk. Eventually, I invited him to church. I knew a small group of college kids were gathering for a Bible study that week, so I connected him to them. He went to Bible study full of questions. One of the guys gave him the Bible he had brought with him since my grocery store friend didn’t have one. We were all praying we would see him again.

The following Sunday, I was on the platform as part of the worship team. It was a great vantage point to look for my grocery store friend. As people were filing in, I kept hoping, praying that I would see him walk through the doors. After all, why else would God have kept our paths crossing like that? The service began, and he still had not arrived. I was disappointed because I had such high hopes that he would come and get to know Jesus. All of a sudden, I heard the Lord’s voice speaking to my heart. “Andrea, He said, “you need to be looking for me, because if I am here, it doesn’t matter who isn’t.  And if my presence isn’t here, it doesn’t matter who else is.”

The Lord had my attention. How often am I looking for someone or something else when the Lord Himself is available to be sought and found? I quickly agreed with the Lord. “Yes, Lord, you are right. Help me to seek you with all my heart. Forgive me for putting so much hope in a person showing up when you are the only one I need to be seeking.” The rest of that service, the Lord had my attention. And graciously, the Lord showed up and met with us.

Now we know that God is everywhere present at all times, and I am so grateful that He is! To be apart from Him is to be apart from everything good! He is upholding the universe by the Word of his power. (Hebrews 1:3) He is always with us. (Matthew 28:20)  "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there." Psalm 139:7-8 God, through common grace, is always with us. 

But there seems to be a special manifest presence that His children seek. Times when we are asking, “Father, would you let us be more aware of who you are and that you are here with us?” Moses asked for this in Exodus 33. God had said, I will provide protection, provision, and even an angel to take you to the Promise Land, but I will not go with you. Moses pleads with God and says, “God, if you aren’t going with us, don’t make us go. I don’t want to go without you. without your presence.” God graciously tells Moses He will go with Him. Moses responds by boldly asking to see God’s glory. (Exodus 33:18) Scripture tells us that in response to that request, God makes His goodness pass before Moses.

Interesting, isn’t it? Moses asks for God’s presence and glory. God responds by giving His presence and goodness. That is what we get every day of our lives, God’s presence and goodness. How often do I ask for those things? How often do I stand in wonder that God graciously gives His presence and goodness again today? They are our greatest good, yet too often I’m looking for people and things I don’t need and missing the amazing fact that God’s goodness and presence are all around me.

I never saw my grocery store friend again, but I pray for him as he comes to mind.  Who knows what God was doing as our paths crossed again and again that day, but we know God never wastes anything. Maybe the whole encounter was to show me how often I elevate other people’s presence over the Lord's. 

We are planting a church again. New City Church in St Augustine, FL, and we need people. We are praying for 120 people to help us plant this church. As we pray and gather, the words that God spoke to me many years ago keep coming back. “Andrea, what and who are you looking for?” When I am anxiously looking horizontally, wondering if God will bring the people, He graciously reminds me, “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."