How can I desire a God so different and distant? As a finite creature, I can only know in part the things of God. Though to discover Him seems enormous and overwhelming, He comes down to me and makes it a possibility. To find Him is an endeavor most wonderful, humbling and consoling.
While God is wonderful, powerful and mighty, He finds interest in knowing me completely. Who on earth has dedicated hours, days, weeks and years just to study and know me in and out? Sure, my spouse and a lifetime friend know me well; but many things remain unknown to them. The LORD searches, knows, discerns and is acquainted with me. He knows all the words I said and will say.
He knows what is best for me. He “hems me in, behind and before”. His boundaries, His Laws, are for my good. No matter where I go, He is with me. If in my foolishness I run from Him, He is there. If my words lead me in a wrong direction, He is with me. He is Lord of the entire universe and beyond. He is my God.
If He knows me so well, shall I not know Him? If He is so wise and powerful, shall I not desire to be with Him? I praise Him for I am fearfully and wonderfully made! Unique from all creation, I am made in His image and likeness. Though I cry, I laugh. Yet I tremble, I rejoice. When in despair, I find my hope in Him.
His Word fills my mind with satisfying, thrilling thoughts. When the knowledge of His perfections and holiness place Him at distance, I think of His Son Who came to live with me. His love was so great that He willingly suffered and died on a cross to satisfy holy divine judgment. Because of Jesus, I am confident to approach the Father in prayer and counsel.
Knowing the richness and beauty of God produces a godly hatred towards wickedness. Psalm 101:3, “I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.” The values and beliefs of the world which oppose the counsel of God speak against the love of Jesus Christ, the very Source of life. These poisonous ideas are like imposters of a desert caravan whose hatred toward life works to sabotage every source of water available. As a sojourner seeking a heavenly homeland, I must resist these works that serve to waste my water supply (1st John 2:15-17, James 4:4).
The enemy is too great for me. I need God. He knows my heart. Though I grieve at the many times I passed Him by, when I found “more important” things to do instead of seeking Him, I am comforted because He knew it all the time. He is calling me, and I am confident to come to Him.
The suffering and death of the Son of God is the basis for my justification before God. My sins were placed on Him and He died in my place. My just condemnation is cancelled because He was condemned in my place. I am safe because I am in Him.
Lord, lead me in the way everlasting.
Our Godly Heritage Quote of the Week
“Then, in the privacy of our chamber, he took his Bible and read that beautiful chapter in Corinthians beginning with the sublime hope of the resurrection-“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle can be dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made hands, eternal in the heavens;” and then kneeling down, he committed himself and her whom he loved to the protective care of the Father in heaven.”
Anna Jackson, recounting what her husband Stonewall did before answering the call to serve in the Civil War. (Source: Battlefield and Blessings, Terry Tuley, LivingInk Books)