“Left to ourselves we tend immediately to reduce God to manageable terms. We want to get Him where we can use Him, or at least know where He is when we need Him. We want a God we can in some measure control." - A.W. Tozer Oh, how I love to whittle God into a creature of my own making. I hold the wood-carved idol of God in my hand and chip away at those parts of Him that seem ugly, unsavory, cruel with my pocket knife. . . His wrath, judgment, hatred of sin, His exclusivity all fall as wood shavings near my sandaled feet. However, when I look up from my design, He looks nothing like the God I truly care about. He looks small. Bloated. Unseemly. Unfeeling. An Asherah pole of my own making!
Yes, I reduce God to manageable terms. Even during this pandemic, I beat my chest and cry: “We know God is using this for His glory and good purpose!” but scarcely know what that glory and good purpose looks like now amidst such pain. However, once I take a step back to remember who God is and who I am, I see the load lift from my shoulders and His radiance take full place. It reminds me of C.S. Lewis’ wisdom: “[I believe in God] as I believe the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” While looking directly at the sun will burn out my retinas, I can learn about the quality, power, and existence of the sun by what it shows me. I then recognize how it sustains everything I see and enables me to see it in the first place. I don't want to look into the sun, but look at what the sun shows me. He is teaching me to trust, to walk in dependence, to fix my eyes on greater things ahead. He is pruning back the layers of my fearfulness and worry and shaping it into His power, love, and sound mind. I am grateful I cannot lasso the sun and its radiance but simply enjoy the warmth on my skin.
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September 2020
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