Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.
-Luke 9:32
The transfiguration, an account in scripture when Jesus was physically transformed & became radiant (like literally dazzling & glowing) in glory. The verse above tells about how Peter, John, & James were legit sleeping as the transfiguration was happening. As I was studying this passage of scripture more deeply today with my team, I was wondering how on earth you could be sleeping in the presence of such glory. How could you actively & physically miss out on a moment with God?
& then I was reminded of a moment this week when I almost did.
This past week Gap C has been serving in DeQuincy, Louisiana with Samaritan’s Purse, we’ve been assisting with hurricane relief in the wake of hurricane Laura. This means a lot of tarping roofs, taking a chainsaw to fallen trees, & raking up yards. On the way home from a long morning of orientation, I was ready to head back to the church and rest. I’ll admit, I was checked out & focused on being alone & resting. I was walking with Anna & one of the guys on the squad, Elijah. Anna asked us to stop at house that we were walking by because she saw an older gentleman raking up debris in the yard. When she asked, I reluctantly agreed, but a huge part of me wanted to say no. We ended up sitting with the couple who live there for nearly 40 minutes, just talking with them & asking about their lives. I believe that we blessed them with conversation/the kindness of God , but I also believe that they blessed us too. We came back to see them a day later, & spent over an hour with them. A divine appointment that I would have missed, but the Holy Spirit literally would not let me. That day my eyes were opened, the last thing that I want is to miss something that God has. I don’t want to just be walking through my life living it, I want to be walking with a sensitive ear & an obedient heart.
My friend Paige’s mom (shoutout to mama Dawn if you’re reading this!!) got a tattoo when we were in Guatemala, & it says despiertame dios, which means wake me up God in Spanish. This is a newfound prayer that God has put on my heart to start praying over myself each day, because although it’s easy to be overcome with stress & busyness & everything else that the day has to offer, God doesn’t want us to walk through life in a spiritual slumber. This keeps us from seeing & experiencing the glory of God.
Would we desire to be a people who walk through life fully awake to God! yes & amen!
with love, Nikki
