I Am The Alpha & The Omega

I am the Alpha and the Omega

Revelations 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Have you heard this description of the Lord before?  “I am the Alpha and the Omega.”  I feel as though I have heard that a lot.  I am not sure I knew before what Alpha and Omega were though.  Did you know that Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet?  What God is saying when He says that he is the Alpha and the Omega is that He is the beginning and the end. God is with us in the beginning, before we were even born God was with us.  He will also be with us in the end.  

One of the ladies from prayer group yesterday mentioned that we can find comfort in this thought when we have aging relatives or friends.  Sometimes when we have aging relatives they require a lot of assistance.  We want to be with them an help them and sometimes we just can’t be with them all the time.  There are many reasons we can’t be with them and that is not really the point.  The point is that we can rest assured that even when we can’t be with them, God is with them.  He is probably better company anyway.  

I remember when I was little I always struggled with the thought that God was always there.  That with God there is no beginning and end.  He was just always there.  Actually, if I think too much about it I still struggle with this.  Then yesterday my friend Louise from prayer group explained this in a way that seemed to make a lot of sense to me.  She said that we struggle with things like this because we are human and we think in very finite terms.  Our minds are limited and we so we are not going to be able to understand or comprehend everything about God.  He is not finite and we can’t try to make him fit into a box that our minds can comprehend.  He is a wonder in so many ways.

I do take comfort in knowing that God was there at the beginning and He will be there at the end and He is there every day in between.  We are never a lone.  I am sure it does not always feel like this.  Some days we can feel God’s presence more than others.  Why is that?  Why do we have some days where we know God is with us and then others when we feel like he abandoned us?  Those are two excellent questions.  Ones I am not sure I know the answer to and yet ones I still wanted to ask because I think it is something we could all think about.  I think we would each have a different answer to these questions.  

When I think about that questions I wonder when I feel closest to God.  I think it is when I am praying or praising Him.  Actually, maybe more so when I am praising Him.  When I am listening to Christian music and singing along I can feel God’s presence.  I follow this woman on social media name Kristina Kuzmic.  She is really funny and does short videos about parenting and about being a woman.  They are very uplifting and encouraging.  They help you to know that parenting is hard for everyone and that you are perfect just the way you are.  Anyway, she dances all the time.  Just walking down the street she will be dancing.  I used to wonder why.  However, I’ve discovered I feel the same way when I am listening to praise music.  

There is a playlist that is free on spotify called Big Life Mornings.  It is filled with upbeat christian songs.  I listen to when I go for a run, when I am walking my dog, when I am driving, or when I am cleaning.  I listen to it a lot.  When I am listening to it and singing a long I feel as though God is with me.  I can feel His presence and it makes me want to dance also.  I am not sure I am describing the feeling right, but it is a truly amazing feeling.  If you are feeling like God has abandoned you and you haven’t felt His presence in awhile, maybe take some time today and play some Christian music and see how you feel.  See if Jesus fills your soul.  

Another time I feel the Lord’s presence is in Eucharistic Adoration.  If you are Christian and not Catholic you may not know what this is.  We, as Catholics believe that Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist.  Eucharistic Adoration is when the priest displays the host or eucharist in a vessel called a monstrance.  The monstrance is placed on the alter or a table and is left there for a certain period of time.  The we get to go and sit with Jesus and pray in His actual presence.  I know that God is with us all the time.  We do not need to go to adoration to be with Jesus.  However, I find I do feel closer when I go.  I am not sure how to describe it, other than comparing it to when you go to a grave site to visit someone who has passed away.  You do not need to be at the grave site to talk to that person, but somehow, being there, where their body is buried makes you feel closer.

If you are Catholic and have never tried going to adoration, I would urge you to give it a try.  Find out where it is located and go once a week for a month and see how much it changes your life.  I try to go for an hour, but even 10 minutes could make a difference.  Just go sit with the Lord.  I think you will definitely feel closer to Him.  You don’t have to do anything specific at Adoration.  The point of it is just to spend time with Him.  Even if you are not Catholic you could give Eucharistic Adoration a try.  Most churches have adoration for at least a few hours a week and I think there is perpetual adoration, meaning 24 hours a day, every day, in every state.  When I was looking I just googled Eucharistic Adoration near me.  I am sure the Lord will do the rest.

As I said above, if we each took the time to ask ourselves, “When do I feel closest to the Lord?” then I think we would probably all come up with different answers.  I wanted to share with you two things I do to feel closer to the Lord.  You may be different.  You may not like music or sitting in church with the Lord.  You may feel closest to the Lord when you are out in nature, when you are painting or writing, maybe when you are with family.  It doesn’t matter what the answer to the question is, what matters is that you ask yourself the question and then pay attention to the answer.   If we are conscious about where we feel closest to God then when we start to feel abandoned or wonder “Where is God?” we can go to that place or do that thing and it may help us to feel Him again.  

Dear heavenly father I ask that you bless everyone listening to this episode today. I ask that you allow each and everyone of us to feel your presence today. We ask that you just let us know that you're here. We ask that you help us answer this question when do I feel closest to you? Lord we want to feel your presence all of the time. It is especially important when we're going through difficult times and we wonder where you are. Lord Jesus help us to see where you are in our lives. Help us to know the things that bring us closer to you and also the things that separate us from you. Lord we love you so very much you are so amazing. We're so thankful that you are the Alpha and the Omega. We're thankful that you were there at the beginning that you'll be there at the end and every day in between.  Lord it brings us so much comfort to know that you are always there. Also to know you are always with our family members and friends and so when we can't be with them we know that you are. We thank you for always being there Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will an in Jesus’ holy name amen.