Sometimes God seems silent. I can’t hear Him. Or I don’t feel His presence.

Those days can feel lonely and self-doubt may creep in. If I don’t anchor myself to truth I can float throughout the day and my emotions can crash on top of me.

God’s word is always comforting but sometimes I need more tangible reminders of His presence in my life. Ways that He has been with me.

Finding God in Your Past

We are able to look to our past in four ways to see how God has been present. This is a process I have used to be encouraged even if I can’t hear God in the moment. Because I am then reminded that He is always working for His glory and my benefit.

John 5:17 (NASB)

But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.”

Times God Has Led the Way and Opened Doors

Since getting my master’s degree in counseling, I have moved the family twice to different states for my career purposes. In both situations I had asked God to make it abundantly clear that the moves were of Him.

I was scared that I was making decisions based off of what I thought would be good versus what God wanted for me. I needed Him to lead the way.

The first move was from Omaha, Nebraska to the middle of nowhere Northern Wisconsin. While interviewing for the job, my husband and I looked at houses for sale to see what options were even available. Our favorite house was straight out of the 70’s but was well built and had ample space.

I got the job offer as we were driving back to Omaha. We then called the realtor of the house.  That same day the house officially went into foreclosure and was going to be up for action through a website. It was like eBay for a house. We ended up getting the house for $40,000 less than the previous day’s asking price.

It was clear God was in control.

After six years in Wisconsin I spiritually needed a change and my husband and I wanted to move back to Iowa to be closer to family.

For months I searched job sites and interviewed places. Then one night, out of desperation, I cried and prayed, and entered a keyword search into a job site. But instead of what I entered, a Christian counseling center popped up. And I knew it was right.

It was clear God was in control.

Reflection: Finding God

• What are situations that “just worked”?
• Have there been circumstances where the timing was “perfect”?
• Can you think of times when you were “in the right place at the right time”?

Psalm 27:13-14 (NASB)

I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord.

Ways God Used Circumstances for Your Later Benefit

When I was young, my dad was an over the road truck driver (he still is) and was only home on weekends. So every Sunday my dad would leave. I remember being four or five years old and comforting my mom by handing her tissues and telling her it would be okay. That didn’t happen every weekend, mind you, but I vividly remember that Sunday.

When I was 12, I babysat for a neighborhood girl. One night the parents got home late and it was misting outside so the mom offered to drive me home. The mere minutes it took for her to drop me off, her husband said ‘goodnight’ to their daughter and then killed himself in the master bathroom with a silenced gun.

At age 13 my parents got divorced. At the time I was one of the first in my friend group to have divorced parents. My friends cried with me and for me.

When I was 15 my grandfather died. I remember watching my grandmother cling to his body and cry out wanting to go with him.

And then when I was 16, my high school crush died in a car crash due to driving drunk. The same year another high school member died due to heart issues. I remember the pain and grief that so many endured because of these deaths.

Where am I going with these stories?

These are the situations and memories that stuck with me and guided me towards my career path.

I become a mental health therapist. God used those examples of hurting people so that I saw the need others have for support and healing. Had those situations not touched me so deeply, I potentially would have chosen a different path. (Being an event planner would have been a lot more cheerful!)

Reflection: Finding God

• Think of times you can say, “Had that not happened I would not be able to…”
• Acknowledge difficult situations that had significant silver linings despite the pain.
• Reflect on times that situations and events changed your outlook and thought processes.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (NASB)

For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Moments when God was Your Strength and Comforter

About 60-65% of my therapy clients are children who have suffered horrendous abuse by the hand of their biological parents. They are now in foster care or have been adopted. However their pain is still palpable. The questions and brokenness they experience is heartbreaking.

Often their stories occupy my thoughts and my prayers.

And it leaves me emotionally depleted.

There are some days that I have nothing left. The rawness of their emotions can become too much for me to hear hour after hour.

So I cry out to God for strength and comfort so that I can give it to them. And in every moment that I have gone to my knees, asking God to replenish me so that I am able to do my job for that day, He has answered me.

Reflection: Finding God

• Think of times when you have experienced peace even in the midst of chaos or crisis.
• Focus on times you were able to endure the situation beyond your understanding.
• Acknowledge situations where people have said, “I don’t know how you did it.”

Psalm 23:4 (NASB)

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Situations God Used for His Glory

For about two years I worked out 5-6 days a week. It started out as a way to be healthy but in reality I was using it as a way for me to find my identity.

Exercise and diet became my idol and a way to escape the stressors of my career. It became a way that I defined myself.

Until I hurt my wrist. Somehow I tweaked it and wasn’t able to workout anymore because of the nagging pain.

It wasn’t until after the injury did I realize how consuming I had allowed working out to become. How much it had taken over my daily thoughts and hindered other areas of growth.

Once that idol was taken away I was able to hear God call me to start my blog. To use my therapy and life experience to reach more people for His glory.

Reflection: Finding God

• What has happened that allowed you to become closer to God?
• How has an event led to you being able to talk about God’s grace, love, and mercy?
• Think of times that others have been encouraged by your story and God’s use of it?

Philippians 2:13 (NASB)

for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

I pray that this post meets you where you are and allows you to find God in your past.

God bless,

Melissa