I’m sitting here trying to grasp who God is… trying to put into perspective an almighty God and my mind simply can’t. Here I am embarking on the journey of a lifetime with God, which I mean most literally because the revelations that I’m getting a glimpse of compare in no way to any high or low of my life thus far and I can't even comprehend Him. In my typical way, I’m on a never ending treadmill trying to be adequately prepared. Not being an avid backpacker (I laugh as I write this because it’s the greatest understatement… I’ve NEVER actually backpacked) I’m consumed with researching how to be prepared for every appropriate thing I’ll need for 11 months in 11 different countries with different climates, cultures, accomodations, sickness and tasks in ONE backpack weighing under 40lbs. Ensuring I’m “fit” enough to carry that 40lbs plus a day pack for who knows how long in what kind of conditions. That I get the best combination of vaccines, supplements and antibiotics so my health will be adequately supported through all of these situations and subject my body to no unecessary side efffects. I’m constantly reevaluating “Have I done enough to raise $15,500 and have I been obedient to telling the story and asking for support?”, “Have I wrapped my life up into a neat little package for my family to take care of?” The list goes on… TRUST ME but this is a glimpse of what my life has looked like recently untill I got to the category of spiritual preparation. How do I prepare to share who God is on a daily basis with people I don’t know through languages and cultures I don’t understand? The purpose of all this is to rescue people living in darkness SPIRITUALY by sharing who God is. As I started preparing to be able to do this I thought “I need to get this down to a few bullet points that I can remember and share at a moments notice….” FAIL (as my brothers would say)! By now you probably know that I grew up in a christian home, going to church and studying the bible. I feel like this should somehow have prepared me but I’m at a complete loss when trying to define God! I think this may actually be where God expects us to be on the subject… at a loss. He is way to big for our minds to even comprehend BUT He did give us enough majesty to study and marvel at in order to get a glimpse at who He is. It’s kinda scary that I’m just reaching this point in my thinking, that I can NOT define God, but I’m amazed at how trying to understand Him better is defining who I am and putting my life in perspective. I have lived with such a limited concept of God that it has limited my view of everything else! We often think of salvation and the cross (which are crucial to our everyday thinking) but maybe we don’t dwell often enough on how unfathomly big creation is outside of us. He has given us everything and has the power and authority to demand our worship and commitment. I think about how He is far away and He loves me, saved me and has a plan but do I ever stop and let the weight of WHO HE IS sink in? Probably not enough to let it impact my life. I know in this lifetime we will only be able to grasp a fraction of who God is because our minds are limited but if we could think bigger than our complacency has let us, I think it would shake our world in a really good way. Francis Chan points us to these truths about Gods character in his book Crazy Love and I think it’s a good place to start.
God is holy.
God is eternal.
God is all-knowing.
God is all-powerful.
God is fair and just.
I’m excited to be waking up to the truths of an amazing God and a life way more filfilled in Him than in me! I’m praying that God would continue to reveal the truths to me that need to be shared and that every person hearing would be changed! Please join me in praying that God will use myself and my team to covey the message of who our God is in an accurate and effective way when our words are such a lacking attempt.
