God Shows Up

by Michele Boy | May 21, 2026

There has been a lot of hurting people in our community lately.  Death of a loved one, accidents, learning of an illness. Fire blazes to the south of us. Many I know are in pain, and have encountered hard times. 
Over the last week I have heard some troubling stories from several people of how they were hurting and were crushed by “preachers”. 
I wanted to share something I think we all need reminded of. Once I was lost. I stood on the side of the road in a broken down vehicle frustrated. I didn’t know God. The weight of my sins was heavy. Someone could have come along and stoned me to death Old Testament style. But God reached me the way I needed it.  I felt a presence of a warm, divine light. It filled me up. It led me to seek Him. He was kind and compassionate. He didn’t scold me. He didn’t admonish me. He loved me. I wanted to know him more and more. Even in his conviction of me, it was gentle. Conviction not condemnation. 
When I read the Bible, I notice God shows up in different ways to different people. It is personal. There are a few people I have had the opportunity to witness to. It wasn’t with words. It was in deeds. I felt called to pray for someone. I felt the need to pay for someone’s meal anonymously. I told the waiter to simply say God loves them. The waiter came back in tears sharing their story and how that gesture encouraged this mom whose boyfriend had left her with a small child and didn’t know where she was headed. 
None of this is about me. I wouldn’t even share these things except in the hope that I can reach others. 
I have shared this story before where a famous preacher sat in an airport and asked God who she could minister to. He didn’t have her stand up and preach. He told her to take a hairbrush and go to the man nearby in a wheelchair and brush his hair. 
God reaches others in their need, in their struggle. And he speaks to each of us differently. 
When people say go and spread the good news, I think of the woman at the well. He spoke to what she needed. 
When we speak to others about God, we need to be cautious and careful. 
We do not know the hearts of others, their experiences, or the background. God does. 
I can ask God how can I help, what can I do. When we take it upon ourselves to correct others, even when our heart is pure, we can push others away. 
When I think about God working in our lives,  I think about the little things. Maybe it’s buying a firefighter breakfast when he is far from home, snapping a photo for a mom who can’t be at an important event. 
I encourage you to ask God what He wants. Not my will, but yours. 
He reaches people in the most beautiful, glorious ways. I have seen his work and it radiates joy. 
And it’s unconventional. It moves mountains. 
This prayer comes to mind. 
Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi (Prayer for Peace)
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.