When God Visits You

One day I was having a conversation with a lady and I told her that God has special interest in her, and had sent me to her to help her become what God ordained her to be. Of Course, I wasn't really expecting her to agree with me knowing that we live in a world where many fearlessly use the name of God to exploit others for their selfish interest. But God does visit us in ways we least expect it, making it easy for many to miss God's visitation even though they have been praying and waiting for it.

Jesus asked a question, 'When the Son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth?' (Luke 18:8). How important that question is. And is even more important when we personalize it: 'When the Son of man comes, shall he find faith in you?' Yes, you've been praying and waiting for God's visitation in your life, but when he does visit, will he find you ready. Oh, how many times God visits us and we are neither aware nor ready for it and hence miss a very important opportunity that the visitation presented to us.

Jesus once wept over Jerusalem because of the consequence of their inability to recognize God's visitation, 'Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, 'If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.'' (Luke 19:41-44) How painful! Though they were God's chosen people, they didn't know the things that bring peace. And they failed to recognize God's glorious visitation to them because He didn't visit them as they expected.

When God visits you, will you recognize it? A woman heard about the wonderful works of Jesus and looked forward to the day she would encounter Jesus. Luckily for her Jesus was passing through her city, ''Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.' she cried. She thought it was her time of visitation, but to her amazement, Jesus responded in such an undiplomatic way. 'I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs.' What a response. Imagine, the anger and disappointment that this would have elicited if that was you. But not for the woman, despite the seemingly harsh response of Jesus, she won't miss her time of visitation;. She humbly requested that Jesus make an exception for her, and this greatly moved Jesus that he responded: 'O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.' And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

What a woman! How many people allow their emotions, bad sense of judgment, pride, and ego to rob them of the blessings of God's visitation. How I was touched by the story of the widow of Zarephath. Jesus made reference to the story thus: 'But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.' (Luke 4:25-26). When you read this statement, you will think Elijah came to the woman and said to her God sent me to you. No that is not what happened. It is a very interesting story because though she is not an Israelite, she was able to recognize God's visitation even when it happened in a way that many others would have missed.

Elijah met the woman when she was just about to prepare her last meal for her and her son, telling her to give him water. As she was bringing the water, Elijah asked for food, but the woman explained to him how little her food was. But Elijah responded 'But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.'' (1 Kings 17:13-14). How challenging this must have been for the woman, but she did exactly that, and that's how she enjoyed the benefits of God's visitation. When God visits you, will you recognize it? When the Son of man comes, will he find faith in you?