An Epiphany about Epiphanies

I didn’t grow up using the liturgical calendar, so I barely knew that there was a day called epiphany, much less a whole season!

But I have come to really love this season, much because it focuses on something we don’t think about often enough - that God Himself speaks to us.

I had an epiphany about epiphanies last year. It had to do with cars. Normally I am completely oblivious to cars. But I have noticed that when we have looked for a certain car to buy or drive a certain car, I see that car everywhere.

In the same way, if we are looking for God to act and speak, if we are expecting it, He will show up all over the place.

Sometimes an epiphany comes when we catch a glimpse of the promises of God. When Gerald and I visited my birthplace, Kabul in ’96 as rockets landed only a few miles away to continue the destruction of this place I loved, I was filled with despair on numerous occasions. But every time I was overwhelmed, I got a little epiphany - some flowers breaking through rubble, a few adorable puppies born into wreckage, a ray of sunshine. Each time, I clearly understood, if only for a moment, HOPE. It was like a glimpse of heaven in the middle of hell.

Sometime epiphanies come when we least expect them. I have experienced an outpouring of joy and love from God on different occasions when I was not even asking for these things. They were simply gifts and again, I caught a glimpse of God through them.

Sometimes epiphanies happen when a thought comes into our mind that is clearer, wiser, and more discerning than anything we could have ever come up with on our own. It is as if the clouds instantly lift and that thing we have been grappling with is suddenly no longer a mystery.

When we were looking at where to go overseas, Gerald and I were filled with confusion. Every time we sat down to talk, we went around and around in circles never coming up with any conclusions. One day as we sat on the couch praying, confused yet again, Gerald got an epiphany. All of a sudden, he was crystal clear. We needed to go to AUI. He prayed for 45 minutes solid. We had to wait a whole year from that moment, but it was Gerald’s epiphany that kept us going through that waiting time.

I think in this place where people are constantly moving and making decisions about the future that it is important to know that God gives direction. Sometimes it is gradual and common sense. But sometimes, it can be described as nothing else but an epiphany.

Epiphanies come, too, when we read scripture. When I was a little girl, I had heard that every time you read scripture, you get something new out of it. So I decided to try this out for myself. In my playhouse, I carefully got out my lollipop version of the Bible. Then I read a verse - but only half of it. I left out every other word. Then I read the verse again, filling in some of the words. I continued in this way until I had read every word of the verse, assuming this is what the adults meant. I certainly got more out of it when I read the whole verse!

Thankfully I have since figured out that is not what the adults meant. They meant that scripture is alive and speaks to you. A verse you have read a million times all of a sudden makes perfect sense or fits the situation you are in exactly or speaks to you in a completely new way.

I think of epiphanies as bursts of light in a dark sky. Times when we catch glimpses of God Himself - of what heaven will be like - of how it will be to finally get it. Understanding instead of confusion. Hope instead of despair.

As I looked up definitions of epiphany, my favorite one included that the “sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something is - (this is my favorite part) - usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.”

Recently I was headed outside to see the magnificent sunset pictured above with Gerald. The entire sky seemed to be on fire. It was breathtaking. On the way to get a better view, I ran past a woman walking the opposite direction. “Turn around!” I said. “Look at the sunset!” She did, mumbled something about it being nice, and turned back the other direction. “Wow” I thought, “God is filling the sky with His beauty and she doesn’t even care.”

How many times do I do that? Walk right past an epiphany and not even notice?

So look for epiphanies this week. When you are intentionally open and looking for something - you may find that epiphanies happen all the time. God is constantly breaking through to us. We just have to open our eyes and hearts.

(This is something I shared a few weeks ago with our church group)