In the summer of 2013, my sister Sheri went
to Wales with the student ministry from First Baptist Church in Clermont, FL. As
my sister was giving her testimony to the children, a little Welsh girl close
to her spoke out, “Someone is behind you!” At first, she just dismissed the
disruption, but this little girl did it multiple times while Sheri was
speaking. She just dismissed it as being very annoying and disruptive. After
finishing with her testimony, this little girl leaned into my sister as if to
whisper and looked into her eyes, and said, “Someone is behind you!” My sister
asked who? Then this little girl named Olivia blurted out, “God!”
My sister quickly turned around only
to find no one there, but she could not explain why she sensed an invisible
presence in her midst and an indescribable peace surrounding her. When she
turned back around, Olivia had already left the room to be with the other
children. Sheri admitted that she felt guilty for becoming irritated with this
little girl; all that Olivia wanted to do was to inform her that God was behind
her while she gave her testimony. It changed forever her perception of God’s
presence in her life. She was well acquainted with Heb 13:5, but this
experience enhanced this verse in a special more meaningful way for her. In the
end, my sister’s prayer was to have eyes to see Him everywhere and to never
doubt His presence in her life again.
When I first heard that story from Sheri
on Fort Mountain in Chatsworth, GA, the hairs on the back of my neck stood
straight out, and I had goosebumps. Being a man of faith, I had no reason not
to believe her. Would God have sent my sister to fly all the way from Florida
to Wales, 4200 miles as the crow flies, just to listen to some “disorderly”
child pretending to see God? I believe it is very possible that Olivia saw God
behind Sheri.
From my viewpoint, this validated my
sister’s faith in a way more than words could ever do. The Creator God made it
known through a little girl that He was with her while she was in Wales. What
an authentication of their missionary outreach, and now He is with her in
Clermont. God’s presence is with me here in Cleveland, TN.; though I cannot see
Him, His Word declares that He is (Heb 13:5). King David admitted that he
could not escape God’s Spirit or presence (Psa 139:7). But this thing with
Olivia, God, and Sheri was very cool!
It’s a mystery as to why God felt that
it was necessary to reveal Himself to Olivia when His Word so plainly declares
His presence is everywhere and not just everywhere, but also everywhere with us (Mt 28:20)! Olivia saw God, and
Sheri sensed Him that day in Wales. I can fully appreciate my sister’s
reaction. If this is fact or fiction only Olivia and Sheri know. People claim
to see God all the time; maybe they do; maybe they don’t.
Because my sister is
a credible witness and has never spoken of something like this happening
before, I believe her story. God wanted Sheri to know that He was with her that
day for some reason known only to God, but His appearance was for her suggested
by the position of His appearing (behind Sheri). Why would God not appear to
her directly rather than being seen by a little child? Olivia is perhaps the
key to all of this mystery. Sheri is not blind like the lost (2 Cor 4:4), and
though she could sense His presence, she could not see God like Olivia did
while Sheri was testifying to what God meant to her life. Olivia stopped with
the “Someone is behind you” as soon as Sheri turned around to see who was
behind her.
For me, this was God simply being God
though I have never seen Him either; I only sensed His presence as did Sheri;
the difference was that no one was pointing Him out to me. Yes, we have His
Word on His dramatically emphatic promise found in Heb 13:5. So we really don’t
need Olivia, Sheri, or any others to inform us that His presence is real and
will never leave us, but that was not the reason in sharing the story to Beverly
and me.
Whenever God or angels are in
somebody’s presence in the Bible, it is not without purpose. Some may say that Olivia never saw God because they maintain
that Jesus is in heaven and will not return to earth until He comes for His
bride, the Church (Jn 14:3); the bride is still here. Therefore, it
couldn’t have been Jesus. Jesus did not say He would never visit the earth
again until the rapture of the Church. He simply said I will come again and
receive you (the Church). With that coming again we are out of here!
If He appeared to others prior to the
rapture, He, being the Almighty, can do whatever He wants regardless of what we
think. If God wants to appear behind Sheri and only open the eyes of Olivia to
see Him among the other children that is His Divine prerogative. Who are we to
say that He can’t? I personally would not tell God what He can or cannot do
something. He is, after all, the Almighty and can do whatever He wants. He will
not violate His Word that is a fact, but the truth is that He never said He
would not visit the earth prior to the rapture. According to Heb 13:5, Jesus is
with me right now! If God chose to manifest Himself here or there of His
choosing who are we to say differently? For Olivia, she was acting as if nothing
was unusual or out of order; it was business as usual. And then there was a personal
recognition by her. How did she know that the Person behind her was God,
anyway?
God doesn’t just show up; He is with
us on the way to wherever we are going and already there when we arrive! In
Wales, He chose to reveal His presence to a little Welsh girl by the name of Olivia
to remind Sheri, “Though you do not see Me, it doesn’t mean that I am not with
You.” But God doesn’t work that way all the time when we have doubts concerning
His promises. We have His Word and that is enough, but there might be something
larger at stake here, only the future will reveal it.
I never had a vision of God, but I was
given a vision of a direction I was to take with M-G; it was Beverly who
pointed it out to me! Is God encouraging believers to look for visions every
time He desires for us to do something, no? His Word is sufficient. I think of
Gideon when I say this, but I had my Word from God out of the Scriptures giving me my course of action, but because I feared for my life in doing what
God had for me to do, I had asked for a sign to make sure this wasn’t a carnal
impulse. As far as I know, Sheri never asked or expected God to appear in the
manner that He did. Perhaps God only appeared to Olivia because doubt produces its own kind of blindness among believers.
God is with us anytime and every time,
anywhere and everywhere. As I write, God is with me. In my opinion, if the God
of the Universe dwells in our presence, we must all be very special and very important
to Him! He died for us and loves us (Rom 5:8; 1 Jn 4:10). We lose sight of the
promise of His presence along the way as well as losing the sense of wonder,
blessing, and responsibility that comes with it.
Practicing the presence of Christ in
our lives changes the way we think, see, and do things; our self-driven
behavior transforms into Spirit-driven behavior that brings glory to God in all
that we do. Everything we touch turns into God being glorified. It’s not the Midas’ touch but the Almighty’s touch through us. 1 Cor 10:31 becomes an
everyday reality when we have that kind of spiritual mindset (cf. Gal 5:16).
I don’t know if we can adequately explain,
theologically or otherwise, why God did what He did that day while Sheri opened
up her heart to the children living in Wales. I, like my sister, want to do
more than sense Him; I share with her the desire to see Him, to be with Him,
and to purge any lingering doubt about any of His promises.
Oh, that we all had eyes of a
child-like faith to see God like Olivia. Everywhere I go I would like to see
Jesus, but in actuality, everywhere I go God wants those who see me to see
Jesus in me (Col 1:27). Someone once said, “We may be the only Jesus people
will ever see.” Oh my, Lord help me! If God should decide to show up behind me
one day and someone speaks out, “There’s somebody behind you!” I will have to
laugh and say, “I know, it’s God. I can’t seem to shake Him!!”
Until the rapture (Jn 14:3; 1 Thes 4:16, 17) or by way of death, it is good and
appropriate for each one of us to pray to rid ourselves of the blindness of
doubt, “Open my eyes that I may see” (2 Kgs 6:17). For plainly “adult-like
faith does not see God in the way child-like faith does! Children do not
wrestle with doubt like us grownups! And that may be the whole point of all of
this, returning to a child-like faith as we mature in Christ!
Maybe the reason we don’t see God in our lives more often than naught is that we have forsaken a child-like faith; the kind of faith we had when we entered the kingdom (Mk 10:15). With child-like faith, there will be no more doubt He is in us and with us always and forever. If we simply come to the point in our faith that God said it and that settles it, the blindness of doubt that plagues us will give way to trust, and maybe just maybe, we may be blessed with the opportunity of pointing out to someone else, “There’s someone behind you!” <><
Maybe the reason we don’t see God in our lives more often than naught is that we have forsaken a child-like faith; the kind of faith we had when we entered the kingdom (Mk 10:15). With child-like faith, there will be no more doubt He is in us and with us always and forever. If we simply come to the point in our faith that God said it and that settles it, the blindness of doubt that plagues us will give way to trust, and maybe just maybe, we may be blessed with the opportunity of pointing out to someone else, “There’s someone behind you!” <><
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| Sheri & Olivia |
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