Does God show himself to us today?

“Well it was all right in the old days because Jesus was there for the people to hear him.  And in any case, they were very special so he showed himself to people like Paul.  He doesn’t do this today.” Do you ever have thoughts  like these when you are in church listening to the readings?  Actually, this sort of idea used to be pretty common.  The notion was that the early days of Christianity was full of marvels but that we don’t need them now because we have the Church!  This couldn’t be further from the truth.

In today’s three readings the thing in common is that all the people to whom God reveals himself know themselves to be unworthy.  Isaiah says: “I am lost for I am a man of unclean lips…”  Paul writes: “…since I persecuted the Church, I hardly deserve the name apostle…”  And Simon Peter, seeing the huge catch of fish that Jesus has arranged, falls to his knees saying: “Leave me Lord; I am a sinful man.”  The point here is that each of them recognise that they are not perfect whilst at the same time realising that God has called and chosen them.  It is because they are humble enough to accept that they don’t deserve to be chosen that they are actually able to accept the calling.

There would be no point in us listening to readings from the scriptures if they didn’t apply to us personally and we couldn’t do something about them.  God’s love is for each of us, no matter who we are or what we have done - provided we are sorry and want to start again.  Everyone is called, everyone is offered forgiveness and a fresh start.  God will show himself to anyone who believes in his love and forgiveness and who asks him to speak to them.

One way of trying this out is to spend a day praying briefly before you do anything, important or otherwise.  Just chat to Jesus about things, especially anything difficult.  If you’re in company, talk to him with mental prayer.  This is guaranteed to produce results because Jesus is truly our friend and longs to have us be close to him and trust him.  What better way is there of seeing if God shows himself to people today than talking to him throughout a day and seeing how his love and guidance transforms your life?