I have heard people say that the first night after they had lost a loved one, they experienced what felt like a calming hand on their back. Or that a red bird visited them regularly. Or a sense of calm and peace came over them that wasn’t possible in those circumstances. Could that be God’s presence?

Moses had to be shielded from seeing God’s full glory, yet his face still lit up a like a Christmas tree when he came off the mountain. Elijah asked to experience God, and after a few terrifying natural disasters, he heard a still, small voice.

I think these tell us that God’s presence can be experienced but cannot be fully defined, and it certainly cannot be put in a box. No, maybe God’s presence shows up just how a person needs to experience him in that moment. Big or small, terrifying or calming, blinding or enveloping. What do you need to experience of God today? Like Moses, we can ask, and God will respond.