Noticing God's Fingerprints

I was driving near our church today when I saw a coyote run across Central Avenue. A few hours before that, I had been driving down Glendale Avenue when I saw a peacock run across the street. Seriously. A bright, colorful male peacock running across busy Glendale Avenue. Of course, my friend and I jumped out of  his truck and tried to catch it. It hopped a fence into a yard that had a statue of a peacock, and we thought it must be home. And we also thought, “Weird. Who has a peacock statue?”

So, what does it mean when you see two animals like these in such a common human place, but an uncommon peacock and coyote place? 
 
In one sense, it means that there is a peacock and a coyote that live near the church in central Phoenix. (It also means the coyote has not found the peacock, or else I would not have seen the peacock.)
 
In another sense, it means we live in a wondrous, wild, desert-city situation.
 
As far as my relationship with God, it could mean He is trying to get my attention. It could be God’s way of showing off. It could be that God wanted me to become aware of the negative effects of urban sprawl. I don’t know exactly what it all means, but what I do know, is God loves to show up in our lives. 
 
He loves to cross our path. He loves to dwell where we dwell. He loves to show off His goodness and creativity in our lives from time to time.
 
And He doesn’t just want to show up at church.
 
The whole concept of the “Other Hours,” is that God doesn’t want to make you good at church, He wants to make you good at the other hours of life. He wants to show up in your relationships, to show up in your work situation, to show up in your finances, to show up in your rest, to reflect His image through your sexuality. God wants to show off His beauty and power and love for you and our world. 

God is omniscient and omnipresent, which means that He is an expert in every field, and fully present in every field. (For further study, look at God’s omnipresence versus His manifest presence. Both are true and wonderful.)
 
I pray that today, as you go about your normal routine, and as you’re driving down your same old streets, you would notice God’s fingerprints. That you would see God move in the mundane. That you would feel the wind of God's Spirit fill the sails of your soul in the ordinary parts of your life.
 
David
 
P.S. Don’t forget to join us this Sunday as we answer the question, “Should you quit your job?”