1. Look for God in yourself. See His image in the flexing of your muscles, the neurons firing in your brain, the desires and imaginings of your heart. Look for the ways He is moulding you, shaping your thoughts, drawing you into His Love. He is your Refiner.
2. Look for God in last year. And the year before that. Each breath you have drawn has been a gift; entirely His grace. And there He was, in each wild pump of your heart, when it beat faster out of joy or fear, when it felt like it stopped entirely, and when it seemed to break and would never beat again. His sustaining presence was there. He is your Shepherd.
3. Look for God in the year ahead. He has brought you to the threshold of another year, and He will bring you over it. He is your Captain.
4. Look for God in your rest. The blessing of sleep, when weary eyes close and weary toes curl. He is there. His sustaining hand will bring you to your feet, coax you through your anxiety, your pain, your exhaustion, and restore you over and over again. He is your Comfort.
5. Look for God in the ground beneath your feet. Turn your gaze outwards, beyond yourself. See God in the dance of wind over the grass and in the delicate swirl of the frost. Let yourself look at it this, this His gift. You don’t have to Instagram it. It won’t be improved by a filter. He is Beauty.
6. Look for God in the sky over your head. The impossible distance of huge, burning balls of gas that light the sky, fire and darkness light-years away from our humble planet. He is there. He has made things that we will never see, but are simply the outpourings of His infinite glory, tumbling through time and space. He is Power and Light.
7. Look for God in the peace of family and the safety of your home. He is the Still, Small Voice.
8. Look for God in the fear of the Syrian refugee, the desperation of the Filippino family, the anger and pain of the child soldier. Look for God in the shivers of the homeless man, the cry of the mourner, the empty gaze of the battered wife. There He is: tired, thirsty, blood dripping from His brow, mingling with His tears. See the God whose muscles gave way, crushing His last breathed blessing on His tormenters. He is Emmanuel, the promise of Peace.
9. Look for God in the faces of friends. Look for Him in joyful embraces, uncontrolled laughter, words of forgiveness which trip over the tongue. Look for God in the lives of those you love. He is Community.
10. Look for God in the lives of others, outsiders, those who you hate, those who hate you. Look for His image. It is there. He is Reconciliation.
Look for Him, and you will find Him. He has promised that it will be so.
“Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger…”
(St Patrick’s Breastplate)