Meditation: Is God Among Us or Not?

Texts: Exodus 17:1-7 | Matthew 21:23-32

Find a comfortable place to sit. Take a slow breath in — and release it. Let the noise and the demands of the day settle for just a moment.

We begin with an honest question.

Not a theological question. A personal one.

Is there a place in your life right now where you are asking — quietly, maybe without even naming it — "Is God among us or not?"

A place where the fear, or the need, or the exhaustion has filled the entire frame. Where you have been so consumed by what is wrong that you have lost sight of what is present.

If there is, bring that place gently to mind. Hold it. Don't try to fix it or resolve it. Just notice it.

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Israel had seen the plagues. Crossed the Red Sea. Eaten manna. And still, when the water ran out at Rephidim, the question came: "Is the Lord among us or not?"

Teresa of Avila said our greatest problem is that we live as though God is absent. Not because God is absent — but because our crises have a way of filling the whole room.

Take a breath.

Think of the place you just named — the fear, the need, the exhaustion.

Gently ask yourself: In this place, what am I expecting God to do before I trust that God is here?

Sit with that. Not with judgment. With honesty.

God sent Moses back to Horeb — the mountain of the burning bush, the place of the original call. At the burning bush, Moses had asked for a sign. God's answer was uncomfortable: the sign would come after he acted. He had to act first, and the sign would meet him on the other side.

Gently ask yourself: Is there something I am waiting to see before I am willing to act? Before I am willing to trust?

What would it mean to take one step — even a small one — before the sign arrives?

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In the gospel, Jesus speaks of a son who said no — and changed his mind and acted. The Greek word is metanoeō. To change direction. A reorientation. A turning toward what is actually real.

We are always being invited to turn.

Sit quietly for a moment with this:

Gently ask yourself: What would it mean for me — today, in one small way — to change the direction in which I am looking for God?

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Close with this prayer.

Gracious God, I confess that I often live as though you are absent. Not because I have stopped believing — but because my fear, my need, my exhaustion fills the room, and I lose sight of you.

Forgive me for waiting for the sign before I act. Forgive me for demanding that you prove yourself before I will trust.

Help me to turn. Help me to take the next step, even without certainty. And remind me, in that acting, that you have been standing before me all along — in the very place, the very call, where it all started.

I am not alone. You are here. Amen.