BigStuf Quiet Time Devotional: How to See GodSample

Once you see God somewhere, it becomes a lot easier to see God everywhere.

This week at BigStuf, we’ve seen what God is like through a story Jesus told.

The hope is that no matter where you are when it comes to faith, this week you saw clearly that God is full of love, joy, kindness, and all the other good attributes of the fruit we talked about during quiet time yesterday.

So what now? Whether you decided to follow Jesus for the first time or opened up about the questions you have at some point this week, where do you go from here?

How can you keep seeing God in your everyday life?

Jesus has some advice . . . and brace yourself for another word picture. Jesus is still talking about fruit, just in a little bit of a different way!

“I am the vine. You are the branches. If you remain joined to me, and I to you, you will bear a lot of fruit. You can’t do anything without me” (John 15:5 NIV).

If you want to find ways to see fruit more easily, then you might want to stay connected to the vine. Okay, you probably don’t have a lot of experience with grapevines. Let’s try another word picture. Imagine the verse went this way:

“I am the outlet. You are the phone cable. If you remain connected to Me, and I to you, you will work like you are supposed to. You can’t do anything without Me” (John 15:5 . . . sort of. We made it up.).

If you want to see anything on your phone, it needs to have power. And having power means staying connected regularly to the outlet. The same is true in our relationship with God. Staying connected matters. One of the reasons this week has been SO amazing, one of the reasons you have felt and experienced life differently, is because you have spent time connected to God. So, if you want to continue to see God, you will want to stay connected long after this weekend. Jesus said that if we remain in Him or stay connected to Him, we’ll see His Spirit at work in our lives.

So, what if the one thing you chose to do now that you’re done with this devotional is to continue to stay connected to Jesus?

• Maybe it’s through a few minutes of prayer each morning.
• Maybe it’s by reading the Bible daily.
• Maybe it’s through staying connected with other Jesus-followers.
• Maybe it’s stopping to pause and listen to God by sitting in silence for a few minutes before you go to bed.
• Maybe it’s going for more walks and looking for God in the world God created.

How you connect with God matters less than how often you connect with God. The good news is, God can be seen every day. Your faith isn’t a Sunday, Wednesday, or BigStuf week thing only—your faith is an everyday thing. God is no different this week than next week, and your faith doesn’t have to be either.

The more often you intentionally connect with God, the clearer you will be able to see God every day.

When you see God more consistently, you wind up building a faith that lasts well beyond your middle school and high school years.

Take one to two minutes now and silently reflect on the ways you saw God this week.

Write down one or two sentences that describe what this time at BigStuf has meant to you so far:

What are three ways you can continue the habit of looking for God after this week?

Read

John 15:1-17

Pray

Is there anything from the passage that stood out to you as you read? If so, take some time to pray and talk to God about it.

Finish your prayer time by praying this (or something like it):

God, thank You for this week. Please continue to help me see You more clearly every day. As I go into my last full day of BigStuf, help me show love and kindness to those around me. Thank You for always being with me and for helping me to see You in my life, other people, and the world around me. Amen.