Don't miss Him

"You missed it!"
We've all said it and we've all had it said to us and about us. We missed the big moment, the funny part of the movie, the big lift that the dancers had worked so hard to perfect, the catchy sign on the side of the road... We missed something and we can't get it back. That split second has passed and now we will forever be the one who missed it.
The worst part of missing it is that we usually miss something spectacular because we are too engrossed in something completely unspectacular! I'm looking at my phone, I'm glued to the TV or the computer or I'm so locked in on my own world that I neglect to see the world around me. Exciting, interesting, remarkable occurrences are happening all around me yet all I see is my little personal universe. I don't take my eyes off of it long enough to catch all the great things that are right there in front of me.
This is a terrible problem that I must learn to remedy. The problem causes more than just missed dance moves and missed road signs. It results in missed opportunities and missed blessings. When I am glued to my own ideas, will and circumstances I miss what God has to show me.
Matthew 25:13 says, "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the hour or the day." Jesus is coming back and in that scripture He tells His followers that they can count on Him coming but not when. You and I still have that same promise. Jesus is coming back and we don't know when. Jesus is also working in our daily lives and we don't know exactly when or how. Just like His return is going to be a surprise, His orchestrating of our daily lives come as surprises. Therefore we must keep watch and be ready to experience God in ways we never thought possible and never anticipated. If we aren't keeping watch then we very well might miss Him.
The devil loves to distract us and keep our eyes on our little puny lives and menial daily circumstances. He doesn't want us looking up and seeing Jesus. The devil knows his enemy and he knows that Jesus is active and all around us. He has blessings to shower on us and more of Himself to reveal to us but if we aren't looking we will miss Him entirely. And then the devil has accomplished his mission. When we don't see Jesus we start to doubt Him and our faith waivers. The truth is we don't see Jesus because we aren't looking up. We're looking down - we're distracted. As a result we blame God for His lack of presence while all the while it is we who aren't paying any attention to the flurry of God's activity swirling all around us.
If only we would keep watch, if only we would look up, I know we would see Jesus. He's all around. Don't miss Him.