God is Everywhere on a Sunday Morning

Years ago while in my 20s, I went through a season of God teaching me how to walk like an authentic Christian. I never thought that would be a painful process, but it was. He broke my weak spiritual legs, so to speak, only to grow stronger legs to walk this journey. Don’t they say bones grow stronger after being broken?

One spring Sunday morning, I had gotten up for church. I was emotionally tired and was tempted to stay home but thoughts started to flood my mind with: I’ll disappoint God, I’ll miss out on being blessed, or miss a social opportunity. I felt weighed down with each thought I had.

After my moment of indecision, I grabbed my bible, devotional, picked up a coffee from the corner coffee house and walked down to the bluffs in the beach town I was living in at the time. I felt heavy inside and was still not sure skipping church was a good idea.

I found my spot on the bluff, looked up at the sun and felt its warmth on my face. As I was soaking in that moment, my soul began to relax and I felt peace flood my heart. It was what I needed. But something else took place that I would have never expected.

While my eyes were still closed and I was enjoying the warmth, I began to hear people talking. I opened my eyes and not far from me were two older gentlemen sitting in their aluminum framed, ribbon-weaved chairs talking. I didn’t realize they were sitting there. I began to listen in and what I heard in that moment changed me forever.

I heard the one older gentleman telling the other, “God loves you so much, he loves you so much that he sent his son to die on the cross for you.”

In that very moment, I went from soaking up the sun to my soul soaking up God’s love. Never have I experienced God’s love for me in a very personal way before. Even though the gentleman wasn’t speaking directly to me, God’s spirit was. He knew I needed to know how much he loved me, not based on my good deeds or what I could do for him, but simply because I was his child. God knew I needed to know his love in a very real way while I was in a very broken place.

I realized then and I often remember it now that God is everywhere on a Sunday morning. A church girl needs to break out of the mold to realize God is not in a mold. It’s a beautiful and necessary thing to know about our Heavenly Father.

Today as I sit in church on Sunday mornings, I know God’s unconditional love for me. He is a good, good God. He loves us so much and there is nothing we can do to make him love us more or take his love away. Hoping you know how much you are loved by God right where you’re at.

God’s Everlasting Love

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.   Romans 8:31-39 ESV