In Chapter 1 of God is Closer Than You Think, author John Ortberg recalls the story of Elisha and his servant, as told in 2 Kings 6:8-23. The servant was terrified because they were in the city of Dothan surrounded by Israel’s enemies. After Elisha calmed his servant, he prayed: “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” Pastor Ortberg asks what would happen if Elisha’s prayer became ours, if we were able to see God’s presence in the midst of the challenges and burdens of our adversity. Then, as with the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35), our hearts would “burn within us.”
Frederick Buechner wrote about opportunities to experience God’s presence in his book Listening to Your Life:
“There is no event so commonplace but that God is present within it, always hiddenly, always leaving you room to recognize him or not . . . because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.”
Following through on that concept, Pastor Ortberg notes: “Spiritual growth, in a sense, is simply increasing our capacity to experience God.”
