I went to everyone’s favorite place this morning. The place you go when you’re feeling down. The place you go when you need a breath of fresh air. The place you go that’s painless, full of comfort and good news. The place we would all consider to be our second home. Heck, we would all choose to sleep there if they would keep it open overnight because we just love it that much.
This morning I went to the dentist.
As I drove into the parking lot I prayed what might be considered a funny prayer. I asked that God’s presence would be around me at the dentist. I prayed that God would be in there.
It didn’t take long to find out my prayer had been answered.
I was called back from the waiting room by Nancy, a woman I had not met before. She was friendly and gentle (what we dream of in a hygienist). As we got to know each other a little we began talking about where we went to church. I soon made the connection that Nancy’s brother-in-law was actually the pastor of the church Tayler and I are getting married at. I was excited to learn this and we talked all about the beautiful property and the stories that make those grounds so sacred and special. God’s presence is surely there — we felt it the first time we ever stepped foot on the land. What made us smile and affirmed even more that it was the place for us to have our wedding day was when our tour guide for the venue that day shared with us that very thing. “People come out here and they notice something is different. Everyone feels it. And even people who are not believers will say to us that they can feel some sort of goodness out here.” We leaned in closer and smiled ear to ear. She looked at us with intense eye contact — “God’s presence is on this land.” What a fun day that was, getting to pick out the place we will get married and realizing that it is a wooded barn that sits on a property with a story that is blessed by God and a land that his presence feels tangible upon. I am now sitting in the dental chair 4 months out from our wedding and in need of some encouragement, and in that exact moment, God chooses to answer my prayer that He would be in the dentist office. He chooses to show up and remind me of the goodness I am going towards. He brings the hygienist in that has a personal connection to the land that Tayler and I fell in love with some months ago, and he uses that common bond to put my heart at ease and remind me of just how special that place is, and just how special our wedding day is going to be. It’s not often you get to kick back at the dentist and smile and laugh, ironically. Nancy gave me those gifts today. God was in her this morning and He met me there in the dentist office just like I had asked Him to before I went in.
Jesus was in unlikely places. When He was here on earth walking as a man, He could be found in places you would not have expected to find Him. I should really say Jesus “is” in unlikely places because He can still be found in some of the last places we would expect.
How about Capernaum in the Galilee? Shouldn’t the King and Son of God be found in the center of the action? Shouldn’t we be looking in Jerusalem if we were going to try and find the Messiah in that day and age? Nope.
Jesus spent the majority of his ministry in an unassuming little fishing town with a motley crew that looked like a group of imposters more than they did disciples of the greatest Rabbi to walk the earth. He also spent time in the wilderness, where the terrain and conditions are relentless. Hardly a place for the Most High to hangout, wouldn’t you think? What I have come to know from studying Jesus’ life is this — Jesus is in unlikely places.
If we don’t expect to find Jesus somewhere, perhaps we won’t. If we only expect to find Jesus in church or where holy, good things are happening, that’s the only place He’ll be. What I’ve found in the last year and am still finding out is that Jesus didn’t just walk in unlikely places on earth — He is actually in the most unlikely places in my story too. The most painful places. He isn’t just there when things are going right.
I challenge you to think of the most unlikely place in your life Jesus would be, and the next time you go there, mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, ask him to show up and be there with you. What might happen? If we expect to find Jesus, what unlikely places might He show up in?
Nancy reminded me of something else important today and taught me a whole new word and way of thinking about it. She taught me about “ubuntu.”
Nancy is from Zimbabwe, and ubuntu is a term originating from the Zulu people of South Africa.
Ubuntu means, “I am because you are.” What Nancy explained to me is that ubuntu is about becoming more together. It is about connecting in humanity. It means that I cannot become all I am meant to be if you do not bring the fullness of who you are. It means our stories are interwoven. It means it is about us and not I. Together, we can become who we were always meant to be. And we must pour into each other to experience this. Ubuntu.
I found ubuntu to be the perfect word for my experience at the dentist today. “I am because you are.” It will stay with me. I am encouraged today and was reminded that God’s presence is in unlikely places, like the dentist, through my short time with Nancy. God answered my prayer on the way into that office. He showed Himself to me in my conversations with her and he so gracefully reminded me that I am who I am because of the way other people are woven into the tapestry of my life. How beautifully and clearly that has been shown to me in this last year through new mentors and deep friendships, and of course, my relationship with my beautiful future bride.
Thank you, God, for reminding me that I am because YOU are. And thanks for meeting me in the most unlikely of places today, the dentist.