{"id":3116,"date":"2025-09-28T07:46:34","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T14:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/insideourgooeyminds\/?p=3116"},"modified":"2025-09-28T07:46:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T14:46:34","slug":"when-god-shows-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/insideourgooeyminds\/2025\/09\/when-god-shows-up\/","title":{"rendered":"When God Shows Up"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><div class=\"xdj266r x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs x126k92a\">\n<div dir=\"auto\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<figure id=\"attachment_3119\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3119\" style=\"width: 545px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-3119\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1451\/2025\/09\/carrier-in-gutter-225x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"545\" height=\"727\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3119\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">God shows up<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<h2 dir=\"auto\"><span style=\"color: #993300;\">It came.<\/span><\/h2>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Phoenix, well, most of Arizona, got enough rain we were able to bring out our carriers-both Essex and Nimitz class, and float them down the gutter. In the mornings, before dawn and the sun lighting the streets, celebratory runs of naked cool freedom were witnessed running through people\u2019s front yards from one end of the block to the other, only clad in an old pair of Hey Dude shoes, their arms raised in praise. It asks the question, on some days like this, when God shows up, are we noticing and can we see it or does it slide by us without waking us to the fact of the miracle that just happened.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">The sun\u2019s rise is supposed to be seen without clouds today. It was supposed to be done yesterday and we got dumped on anyway. Maybe today it will give us a good go. It will be nothing like what the east coast Outer Banks will get. I am sure you out there scoff at this message. But I can tell you one thing, you won\u2019t be able to stand and float your Essex or Nimitz down your gutters like we can out here! You won\u2019t be able to find the gutter for one thing.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<h3 dir=\"auto\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<span style=\"color: #993300;\">We have\u2026.<\/span><\/h3>\n<div dir=\"auto\">We have, like I said above, sometimes a dichotomy of events happening at the same time. Many times, I would even say most of the time, you will have opposite responses. Some of us will raise our hands in joy, allowing the cleansing rain to hit our faces as we stand symbolically naked in our neighbor\u2019s front yard, laughing at the childlike joy of fresh cleansing rain hitting us while the dogs we are trying to walk around the block in the early morning are standing patiently looking at their master and I am sure thinking, <em>what the hell are we doing, Dad?<\/em><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<h3 dir=\"auto\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<span style=\"color: #993300;\">It is\u2026.<\/span><\/h3>\n<div dir=\"auto\">It\u2019s the exact same look and thought sometimes I have with the Lord and its usually on the other end of the happiness spectrum-<em>God, what the hell are we doing?<\/em> Yes, I swear sometimes when I talk to Dad. He understands and sometimes, in the lighter moments of my expression, I imagine He is smiling. He is my Dad and I am his adopted son and frankly, He is extremely proud of me. Not because of anything I\u2019ve done, but because of the one decision I had to make-simply to believe.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The Lord is at both ends of these experiences. He makes it rain joyfully in parts of our world and in others, He causes it to rain with what could only be described as torrential anger. He allows it to happen. Why?<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">If I look back on my life from where I am now, I can see days of metaphorical rain. Whole seasons of rain. It was raining so much, I thought I would never see the end of it. But it was the rain, the hard never seeming to end rain, that brought the joy that followed. The older I get, the clearer the picture is from here, looking back and the fact the Lord was there, with me.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">I can see where God showed up.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Micah%207%3A18&amp;version=ESV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" class=\" decorated-link\">Micah 7:18 ESV \u2013 God\u2019s Steadfast Love and \u2013 Bible Gateway<\/a><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<h3 dir=\"auto\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<span style=\"color: #993300;\">He\u2026present in my life.<\/span><\/h3>\n<div dir=\"auto\">He was always-<em>is always<\/em> here, present in my life. I know that. It has taken decades for it to be a belief which I am now comfortable wearing. But sometimes, in the loneliness of the event we are surrounded in, we lose track of that moment where He does show up or, said another way, where we get to see Him present, actively present in the moment. Incredible. Sometimes, it takes those moments for me to just be quiet and simply ask \u2018<em>what the hell are we doing, Dad<\/em>? He knows I love him like a little boy to his big Dad. God knows my frustration which causes me to question what <em>we\u00a0<\/em>are doing. He knows the end of the story and knows I am struggling in a mortally infected world. God also knows me and my heart and He is crazily proud of me and where I am. The Lord simply <em>knows<\/em> me. He draws closer to me, in those times where it seems overwhelming-<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">we float wood in the shape of aircraft carriers down the gutter.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">He always shows up, or rather, allows us to see Him in the present. Sometimes, that is all I need.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/insideourgooeyminds\/author\/markwilliams\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">Mark Williams, Author at Inside Our Gooey Minds<\/a><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/insideourgooeyminds\/2025\/09\/the-plan-does-gods-plan-work\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">The Plan-Does God\u2019s Plan Work? | Mark Williams<\/a><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>He makes it rain joyfully in parts of our world and in others, He causes it to rain with what could only be described as torrential anger.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4610,"featured_media":3119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[851],"class_list":["post-3116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-when-god-shows-up"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>When God Shows Up When the rains come<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"He makes it rain joyfully in parts of our world and in others, He causes it to rain with what could only be described as torrential anger. 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