Giving God room to bless us

Sometime during the past month or so a tiny snail has managed to ride into our house on my husband’s work boots. The evidence of our tiny visitor surprised me since my husband is meticulous about cleaning his shoes after a hard day working in the elements. He has a special boot brush, a plastic foot mat and a hose with a jet sprayer all set up to clean his cleats before entering the house and tracking on our hardwood maple floors.

Nevertheless, the snail is here.  It leaves an almost imperceptible ribbon of silver across my area rug in front of the entertainment center. The track is so thin you can’t see the line unless the light from the windows captures the reflection.  Every morning I drag out the vacuum cleaner and run the brushes over the rug to remove the snail’s trail.

I’ve searched for the tiny creature, but without success. I even enlisted the aid of my kitten who regularly brings me prizes of the furry and feathered variety from the backyard. He sits at my feet and stares wide-eyed, his golden orbs the picture of innocence. “You want me to look for what?”  Then as if he’d never heard me he thumps his tail and rolls over for a belly rub.

 Sigh. The silver thread returns the next day.

God appears in our lives in similar fashion. He stays in the shadows, leaving an almost imperceptible trail of evidence behind as he influences the details of our lives.  We scurry about  our busy schedules, often unaware of the circumstances He has created in order to answer our prayers.  We don’t notice His presence until an epiphany of conscious thought flies across our radar and we say, “Oh!  An answer to prayer. That must have been God.”

The moment passes, our brain vacuums over the trail and we send God back to the recesses of our minds, unable to be detected.  Tomorrow we’ll awake and find some new miracle has occurred in our lives and that imperceptible trail of silver will once more thread itself through our conscious thoughts.

The snail has finally disappeared, for lack of food or for finding another way out of the house, I don’t know.  But God’s presence is still alive and well in my life, and I welcome Him to stay as long as I have breath to Praise Him.

 Think how much more power God would have in our daily doings if we gave Him the place He deserves. That tiny thread of silver would expand to a mantle over our lives. 

Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God knows the plans He has for us, not to do harm, but to give us a future and a hope. Let us cling to that promise and trust God for His blessings. Instead  of vacuuming away the trail every morning, and returning to our routine with a grateful nod, let us stand back and invite Him to occupy the entire room.