Before I became a Christian, I still had always had a belief in God. And although I embraced the evolution of creationism, I could never escape the idea of someone, or something having had to start it all; I just could not grasp the idea that God or a god would know my name or be involved intimately in my life. I still considered myself the “captain of soul.” It wasn’t until the night I got saved in February 1987 that my perception of God, who He was, what Jesus did, and the Holy Spirit’s daily influence and impact in and on my life, that my perception was radically changed. My Jennifer is the one who led me to the Lord, and she greatly influenced my early steps as a Believer. And there was also the influence of her brothers-in-law that showed my God’s presence in every moment of every breath. As I delved into my walk, certain passages of Scripture became paramount. One of the first and has since been held as my “life verse” comes from the book of 2 Chronicles. I first hear the verse in a song by Christian artist Steve Camp. The song is called “Living Dangerously (in the hands of God.” In the song, he quotes from 2 Chronicles 16:9, which reads “For the eye of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth, that He may strongly support those who hearts are completely His.” Then as now, these words resonate with me. They remind me that there is no corner of this world that God is not. Over time, I embraced that these “corners” were not to include the physical but the spiritual as well. When I experienced my first deployment to Iraq, where I felt completely isolated from all that was familiar and comfortable, God showed Himself to be there. Not just on the periphery, in the middle of it all. When I find myself to be spiritually drained, feeling at best useless to God, He is there, ready to strongly support me, love me, revive me, and renew me. And all I have to do is let Him. Despite the lyrics of a famous pop song in the early 90’s, God is not watching us “from a distance.” He is actively pursuing us. Our relationship with God is the single most important relationship we can have…above all others. And when we actively pursue God back, our lives are richly blessed and lived to the potential that is intended.
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