How High Is Your God Awareness Level?

In his book Everything Belongs, Richard Rohr says, “We cannot attain the presence of God because we’re already totally in the presence of God. What’s absent is awareness.”Ouch! I’ve been pondering what it is that keeps me from the awareness of God, and I’ve come up with 3 things that make me oblivious to God at any given moment of my day.

Caught in the “shoulds”

We all tend to get frustrated when life is not what it should be, people are not behaving as they should be, and our agenda isn’t coming together as it should be. When our minds are occupied with what should be, we lose our ability to recognize God in a situation. Focusing on the possibilities, instead of the “shoulds,” influences how we view God and his abilities. Our God awareness level goes up.

Caught in assumptions

How often do we make quick decisions without gathering the facts to base our decisions on? So often we make up our minds without asking questions, or we neglect to seek information from different sources concerning a situation. We do this without even realizing it—assumptions about people, assumptions about work, and assumptions about the church we attend. Making assumptions limits and often distorts our view of God’s workings in a situation. Focusing on the facts removes assumptions. Our God awareness level goes up.

Caught in an emotional overload

Grief, anger, and despair feel so intense they overwhelm our awareness of God. We want relief, and we seek it through escaping the situation or going into denial mode. Yet, Jesus is in the midst of the storm—calming it or enduring it with us. When we choose to stay with our emotional moments in a healthy way, our God awareness level goes up.These are only 3 things that affect my God awareness, and, yes, there are many more to work on. But enough about me, what things do you do to keep your God awareness high? (Click on the blue comment link at the bottom of this post to leave  your words of wisdom for us.)

In Him together, Susan Gaddis