Today, I was looking for a particular photo, and I was clicking through my photos so quickly, it was kind of like watching a very, very slow movie–with all these precious moments of my life or my kids' and grandkids' lives. So, so many, many moments.
I started thinking about how, this was a few moments in my life, among millions of moments, among billions of other people, with zillions of moments.
"How does God keep it all straight?", I wondered.
"How can He be such a personal God—for so many of us.", I wondered again.
When I look up into the heavens, and see the stars, and the heavenly bodies—I know God is complex, and beyond my imagining—because the Heavens are beyond my knowledge and my imagination.
Somehow, that thought is settling to my soul.
God is way, way beyond all that I could think or imagine.
He made this world and everything in it. He made the solar systems. He made the entire universe. I cannot imagine a Being who is so creative—One who is without limits.
My whole life is about limits—to, what or who I can know, what I can do or accomplish, or to what I can eat, or the possessions I have, or the length of time I am going to live.
I cannot imagine One who has no limits, beyond the limits He decides to set for Himself—based on His character and His nature.
Here's what I am probably really wondering—"How can You—the Lord and Creator of Everything, care for me? How can You care for my loved ones? How can You care for the World?"
"How can You be such a personal God?"
I must admit when I read scriptures, I have many questions. Sometimes, I don't understand God and why He acts as He does. As I investigate more, I come to understand aspects of His character that I had not understood before. But sometimes, I can't fit the puzzle pieces together. As a human, when I can't fit the pieces together, I'm tempted to throw some of the pieces out, but God tells me that He inspired scripture, and all of it is profitable. 2 Tim 3:16
Honestly, it is like me trying to understand how God keeps all of us humans straight–when there are billions of us. Or like me understanding how God made the universe.
I have so many limits. I can't understand so, so many things. I do know that my Heavenly Father is good and loving and kind, because I KNOW Him. I have experienced His love. I have experienced His care. Yet I have also experienced times of darkness and confusion.
Therefore, I go back to what I do know. Jesus, the image and representation of God the Father, actually lived on earth. He actually died for the purification of our sins. He actually rose from the dead. He has told us, He is coming back again–to bring us home. This is what I know. This is what I place my faith in—for if Jesus did not rise from the dead, my faith is in vain.
I am grateful that God—the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords—gave us the evidence we need to trust Him—we don't have to make a blind leap of faith—instead He takes us by the hand and holds us so that even if we fall, we will not be hurled headlong.
I also know that God is not a God of confusion, but a God of peace, so when I am confused—it is good to go back and look at what I know, to look at Who I know.
God is not afraid of my questions, but many times I don't like His answers—for they remind me that I am the one who has limited understanding, not Him—and just as a baby cannot understand Algebra—I cannot understand His ways.
"Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely." 1 Corinthians 13:12
Even though I don't have all the answers, I do have "The Answer" and His name is Jesus the Christ.
I don't know about you–but that really encourages me!!
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