First Impressions
The voice behind you
John is ninety years old, stuck on a prison island, and about to have the most mind-blowing encounter of his entire life. Think about that. This is the guy who leaned on Jesus' chest at the Last Supper. He watched Jesus walk on water. He was there when Jesus rose from the dead. And yet his biggest God-moment happens in prison, at the end of his life, when everything looks like it's falling apart.
Here's what gets me: the voice came from behind him. Jesus didn't appear right in front of John's face. He spoke from behind, which meant John had to turn around to see him. God initiated, but John had to respond. That's how encounters work. God whispers, calls, nudges—and then waits to see if we'll turn.
What if the reason we're not seeing more of Jesus isn't because he's absent, but because we're facing the wrong direction? What if we're so locked into our routines, our expectations of what God should look like, that we miss him showing up in new ways? John had every reason to think he'd seen it all. But he turned anyway. And on the other side of that turn was Jesus—bigger, stranger, more glorious than John had ever imagined. The question for us this week is simple: Will we turn?
Sit with this
- 1When was the last time God felt really close to you—and when was the last time you felt like you had to search for him?
Journal prompt
Write about a time you almost missed something important because you weren't paying attention. What would it look like to 'turn' toward God this week?