Who is God? That might not be the question on the mind of many people, at least not on any kind of regular basis. Sure, when significant things happen in life, they might wonder about some entity bigger than they are, but in the day to day runnings of life, most probably don't give a great deal of thought to the question.
That often leads to the question getting relegated, as I mentioned, to those significant moments of life. The problem is, those moments are most often tragic, or moments of pain and hurt. A loved family member dies unexpectedly. A relationship is painfully broken. Then, the question comes out, why would God let/cause this to happen?
I would suggest that the question of "Who is God" is most difficult to answer in those cases if one hasn't been asking the question throughout one's life. If you start off each day asking who God is, and you see the sunshine, or the needed rain, or you hear the birds singing, or you see the fall colors, or new growth in the spring, you start to see God as much more involved in this life and world, than if you only focus on those significant moments. And then, if you see God's hand working in these kind of ways, then you start to see that the supposed absence of God in those tough moments actually show that God's goodness is far more prevelant than the times of His supposed absence.
That's why this question is important, not just at those significant moments of life, but daily. God created and designed this world to run in a particular way, a way that is truly fascinating to behold. I've had the joy of living in places where you can see His hand at work in creation, and it truly is amazing to see. I've had the joy of seeing God working in the lives of many people, and see how their recognition of His daily presence gives them far greater strength when the tough times inevitably hit. When we relegate the question only to the big moments of life, we're going to be far more disappointed, because we fail to see how God is concerned with everything that happens each day. We expect the miraculous, which God only seems to do on occasion, and then we are disappointed that God didn't throw a miracle our way to stop our pain.
How does that question invade your daily life? As it does, what do you see about who God is?
That often leads to the question getting relegated, as I mentioned, to those significant moments of life. The problem is, those moments are most often tragic, or moments of pain and hurt. A loved family member dies unexpectedly. A relationship is painfully broken. Then, the question comes out, why would God let/cause this to happen?
I would suggest that the question of "Who is God" is most difficult to answer in those cases if one hasn't been asking the question throughout one's life. If you start off each day asking who God is, and you see the sunshine, or the needed rain, or you hear the birds singing, or you see the fall colors, or new growth in the spring, you start to see God as much more involved in this life and world, than if you only focus on those significant moments. And then, if you see God's hand working in these kind of ways, then you start to see that the supposed absence of God in those tough moments actually show that God's goodness is far more prevelant than the times of His supposed absence.
That's why this question is important, not just at those significant moments of life, but daily. God created and designed this world to run in a particular way, a way that is truly fascinating to behold. I've had the joy of living in places where you can see His hand at work in creation, and it truly is amazing to see. I've had the joy of seeing God working in the lives of many people, and see how their recognition of His daily presence gives them far greater strength when the tough times inevitably hit. When we relegate the question only to the big moments of life, we're going to be far more disappointed, because we fail to see how God is concerned with everything that happens each day. We expect the miraculous, which God only seems to do on occasion, and then we are disappointed that God didn't throw a miracle our way to stop our pain.
How does that question invade your daily life? As it does, what do you see about who God is?
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