Some
of this is old and some new and some you probably already know.
Starting
off with, God is so much bigger than we allow Him to be. For many of us we put
God between the covers of the Bible. His words come through the prophets,
through Jesus, through the Bible and through our words and
actions. The words become one-dimensional and do not really tell us who
God is but rather what God wants from us.
I
will start with John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word: the Word was with
God and the Word was God. Through Him all things came into being, not one thing
came into being except through Him. What has come into being in him was life,
life that was the light of men; and light shines in darkness, and darkness
could not overpower it.
And then in Psalms 19:1-4
The heavens declare the glory of God, the vault of
heaven proclaims his handiwork;
day discourses of it to day
night to night hands on the knowledge.
No utterance at all, no speech,
no sound that anyone can hear;
yet their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their message to the ends of the world.
Think
about it. God created this world so that we can experience Him. The Word has a
corporate meaning. We can experience God in the beauty of nature, art, music,
friendships and through love.
When
Paul was on Mars hill speaking to the philosophers, he was speaking with a
voice that they understood very well because Saul/Paul was instructed to the
great works of philosophers by Gamaliel who was a broad
minded Rabbinical educator. Saul as a Roman Jew would most likely known the
works of the great philosophers who were the basis of education. In Acts 17
starting at verse 23 … as I strolled round looking at your sacred
monuments, I noticed among other things an altar inscribed: To An Unknown God.
In fact, the unknown God you revere is the one I proclaim to you.
Since God who made the
world and everything in it is himself Lord of heaven and earth, He does not
make his home in shrines made by human hands. Nor is he in need of anything,
that he should be served by human hands; on the contrary, it is
He who gives everything ---including life and breath--to everyone. From
one single principle He not only created the whole human race so that
they could occupy the entire earth, but He decreed the times and limits of
their habitation. An He did this so that they might seek the deity and, by feeling
their way towards him succeed in finding him that we live, and move, and exist,
as indeed some of your writers have said:
We are all his children.
Therefore, Paul is saying that God created
everything that we experience so that we may know God. Our awareness must be
outside ourselves. If we only think about the things we do not have and what
others have that we do not have, we are going to live in a very miserable
world. I heard a preacher, I think his name was Frank Peretti, who said, if you are
seeking truth, don't look within yourself, you are the one who is confused.
God's WORD is so big that our finite minds cannot comprehend all that is
in front of us.
I have a friend that owns a small motel in South
Dakota and I would occasionally stay when on business. He was from India and he
is Hindu but our talks would often stray from religion to other matters. One
night we were talking about people who choose not to work and go on welfare.
Manny loves this country and the opportunity it has for all even though
his family could have done very well in India. The line that he spoke can go
for many things, he said in an excited voice, "My friend, I get so upset
with them because all they have to do is take a shovel and dig. There is gold
beneath their feet." So it is with life. All we have to do is look around
and the truth is everywhere.
In
a different manner, God also communicates to us through pain and suffering. In
life we always are asking the question, why me? Why would God want to punish me
in this way. Listening to Ravi Zacharias in a message that I heard before,
told of a girl that was born with a genetic disorder that did not allow her to
feel pain. She had to be continually watched so that she would not
seriously harm herself. If she touched a hot stove, she could not
feel the sensation of pain or if she cut herself or broke a bone it could be
fatal. When we feel pain, normally we find relief with some ointment, salve or
go to the doctor. Likewise, when are hurting spiritually, we can turn to God.
When we have bad things happen, God wants us to come to him to relieve our
pain. God wants us to come closer to Jesus and if we just listen, we can
experience him even in our pain.
God
is all around us and if we will just be open and aware, we can experience God's
presence and His love for us and the good things that He wants us to have. When
I was in the army and took classes for conceal and carry, they taught with a
heavy emphasis on being aware of your surroundings and the danger that might be
present, being on guard. Why can't we be taught or learn to be aware of the
good things that God provides for us in our every day lives? We should be
thankful every day for each new beautiful experience, each new person that
comes into our lives and yes, even each painful event that we might interpret
as tragedy or physical pain.
God
communicates to us through many ways, only if we are open to Him, Psalm 46:10
Be still and know that I am God. Stop, be silent, what you think and have to
say is not all that important. The words in piece of music or just the sounds
can take you into another place. The sun silently rising in the morning can
take you to God's side. Seeing an act of kindness can remind one of how life is
supposed to be. Today is the day --- Rejoice. You Only Live Once. YOLO
