Countless TV commercials feature a glamorous person parading down a red carpet. But one ad campaign allowed an unforeseen ripple in the rug to steal the spotlight. Among the paparazzi and adoring fans, the celebrated person looks shocked as they trip and tumble into a face plant.

It’s no longer a pretty scene.

It reminds me of the magician’s statement: “Now you see it. Now you dont.”  The announcement lets the audience know something currently in their sights is about to disappear. Then poof it’s gone, if only for a moment.

Is something currently in your sights slowly or suddenly fading?

Maybe the thing you cherished has already disappeared or disappointed. If so, a new “now” begins to jockey for our attention. It tells us…

Now we pout.
Now we compare.
Now we quit.

But now let’s take a second look.

I’ve walked a few red carpets. They weren’t flanked by the paparazzi; but they started with potential.

Like the time I hosted a group of military wives for dessert and coffee. The table was set, my hostess hair was fixed and then my fireplace billowed with smoke.

Or the time I went to my son’s school with homemade reindeer cookies — on the wrong day.

In each case, my vision of something grand appeared and I anticipated the possibility of fulfillment. Then the vision was interrupted by the proverbial ripple in my plans.

It’s enough to drive me into a much-needed face plant — the kind that causes me to seek the face of  God.

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. – Hebrews 11:6 NLT

Then prayer becomes a moment of peekaboo, I see You. I see the God with whom all things are possible. I see the fallacy of my thinking: God’s plan is not about me. But by His grace in Christ, He includes me.

Something amazing happens when the “red carpet” of my expectations collides with His intervention. Because our plans are incomplete until they’ve been touched by His redeeming hands.

His redemption completes every experience by elevating it with His purpose, for our good to His glory.

What moment have you almost realized before some unforeseen obstacle appeared, someone changed their mind or someone else’s name was called?

“Now you see it. Now you don’t” can mean…

Now we trust God more.
Now we still forgive.
Now we try again.

The disruption may be for a moment.  Sometimes it lasts for years. But as we sincerely seek God, He gives us a path to something better.

Because almost “red carpet” moments make room for Christ redemption. He picks us up and plants us firmly in His will. It’s the kind of divine intervention that brings hope for the heart and joy to the soul.

Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. – Hebrews 11:1 NLT