I have this idea for a series of posts that discusses how the life of a Christian should 1) reflect Truth about God and 2) demonstrate an abiding in Him through bearing fruit. The first post is here. My first overarching theme was to be God’s sovereignty, and this post falls under that umbrella. I don’t mean the posts to be lectures, because they are actually the outpourings of what I have learned and of how God has corrected me. I am one who needs an extraordinary deal of re-shaping, and all I hope to do is share the resulting thoughts with you. I eagerly welcome your wisdom and engagement in these discussions.
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part one
Awe. A sense and reality of utter peace and complete insignificance. Have you ever experienced it? Maybe you felt like crying, or you actually did cry. Maybe you were breathless. Maybe you were stunned. Speechless. No response but to be and take it in. Breathe deeply and gladly.
To me, this is what it is like to encounter the Presence of God, to catch a glimpse of His glory. Awe is not something you can muster up. It isn’t an emotion. It is a God-given realization of His greatness and an abiding in that Presence of His. Alas, ‘greatness’ is too common and understated. We use this word in reference to professional athletes just as much.
In fact, I think that this is actually a deeper, serious issue. We live with such a desire to control our own lives and outcomes, to serve our own wishes, to get cozy with the world so it will treat us well. Why? We must not really know Who God is, or what He is like, or we haven’t understood His awesomeness.
Let’s begin with that word: awesome.
Wonder. Love. Majesty. Holiness. At the end of it all, we can but say “Holy, holy, holy.” I think of the imagery of John’s Revelation – at numerous points, the elders and living creatures simply worship God Almighty, all-glorious and worthy of praise. Our tangible experiences of God’s holiness are so few, if we have them at all. We give so little of our thought to the greatness of God. We think about how He loves us, how we hope He hears us and cares about us, how we really hope He gives us what we desire.
But we don’t often consider how little we are. How little control we have. And if those thoughts do come to our minds, I think we banish them. I think we don’t let those thoughts direct us to God’s awesomeness. Why do we avoid acknowledging it?
I think we’re afraid. It’s like thinking about the infinity of the universe. That vastness and emptiness puts fear in us, because it’s SO big and uncontrollable and far and it. never. ends. I’m afraid to think about it. My mind might fizzle out from trying to understand it.
And so maybe we’re scared. God is too great and vast. Which is exactly why we should meditate on Him and be in awe of Him. We should acknowledge His power and glory and holiness, even if it makes us afraid. Even if it makes us realize how squashable we are. We are rather powerless and unglorified and completely unholy. I mean, we even fear people who are more powerful than we are; why shouldn’t we fear the only God, Creator and Judge of us all?
We should. We should fear Him and we should love Him. Machiavelli thought rulers could only aim for one of those. But rulers aren’t God. Rulers don’t die for their people to save them from destruction, call them their children, and then proceed to give them life and peace and joy and discipline and consequences. Fear and love are all mixed up together and this is awe.
This is when we acknowledge that we have always been deserving of death, yet God has saved us. This is when we shield our eyes from Him because He is too glorious for us to behold. This is when we bow in reverence, yet sense His sweetness and peace. This is when we respect His anger and delight in His good nature. This is when we finally desire Him, with longing, even as we know He holds our fate in His hands. Because He is Creator and Judge, yes; but He is also Saviour.
Why do we try so much to be our own gods?
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