Among You Stands One You Do Not Know

John the Baptist looks out at the crowds gathering to be baptized in the Galilean wilderness.

There are Pharisees, questioning him about his identity and qualifications, there are spiritually hungry Jews eager to be a part of the new thing God is doing, there are curious onlookers fascinated by the man with camel’s hair clothing who eats bugs and honey, and there is, of course, his cousin Jesus, who is there to be baptized before anyone knows who he is or what he is here to do.

Jesus is in the crowd, but nobody recognizes him.

And John the Baptist makes a startling announcement as the Pharisees pepper him with questions. Instead of keeping the conversation focused on himself, he declares:

I’ve been meditating on this simple sentence for the past two weeks.

How is Jesus present in the crowds and busyness of my life — and I just haven’t noticed him yet?

This simple question has been producing an even deeper prayer in my heart:

“Jesus, I want to know you here. I want to know you here in this season — I don’t want to miss you in the busyness, the crowds, and the details.”

To help me lean into this, I’ve been praying the words of Paul from Philippians:

Heres the simple truth behind these prayers: each new season God takes us into is an invitation to know God more. 

When we come into new seasons, we are tempted to fall into the trap of believing that God is going to work in them in the same way that he did in the last season.

But, this misses the heart and ways of God, who deepens our maturity by working in different ways in different seasons.

In our lifelong journey of growing in our knowledge and love for God, God loves to move in new and mysterious ways to deepen our experiential knowledge of him.

Initially, in a new season, we might find ourselves like those in the crowds in the Galilean wilderness — either completely unaware that God is in the crowds of our life, or maybe aware but just not sure how.

What’s key is that we let the hardness of new seasons produce a deeper commitment to search God out in them.

It’s key that we let them produce a deeper ache in us — “God, I don’t want to be content with how I knew you in the last season, I ache to know you more in this season.”

• The writer of Proverbs tells us that “it is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out” (25:2, NRSVUE).

• The writer of the Song of Songs illustrates this when the Bride awakens in the night season, and the prayer on her lips is “I will seek him whom my soul loves” (3:2).

• Peter writes of a similar dynamic to early churches stepping into new seasons, saying that “various trials…may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (see 1 Peter 6:6-7).

In other words, the mystery of hard things is that they help us see Jesus, our suffering Savior, more clearly.

Hard seasons, new seasons, trials, and setbacks of all kinds are meant to produce an ache of hunger in us to find God in them — even if it’s in new surprising ways.

Will we be like the crowds—unaware that God is among us in a new way—or will we lean in like John the Baptist—declaring confidently that God is coming into our lives in a new way — we just haven’t seen him yet?

So, I’d love to invite us to lean back, take a deep breath and ask:

• What hard thing is producing a deeper ache for God in you?

• How are you letting the hardships of a new season produce a deeper prayer life in you?

• What are some ways that God is at work in new and surprising ways in this season?

I am praying for you sincerely. If I can ever support you in your journey of coming alive and living in love with Jesus, please don’t hesitate to hit “reply” on this email and let me know.

-Ryan

P.S. It is one of the greatest joys of my life to help people come alive and live in love with Jesus, especially by waking up to the continual conversation we get to enjoy with God. Our team is working on creating some beautiful prayer resources this year, starting with a daily prayer journal designed to help you grow in your ability to hear God’s voice. Please consider becoming a founding partner with us to receive every resource we create in 2025 completely free!