We cannot understand everything about God and we had better be thankful for that. Because if we did, then we would be exactly like God. Yes, we are made in His image, but that doesn't imply that we are an exact duplicate.
So when it comes to His presence in our midst, what can we understand? We can understand who God is in that moment. I reference again the book we are studying in LifeSkills, "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day". Author Mark Batterson references a Hebrew word from the Bible, "paniym". It can refer to the split second before something happens and the split second after something happens. Even though we cannot exist in either moment, God does.
In Ex.20:18-19 God's presence is in thunder and lightning. In 1 Kings 19 Elijah experiences God' presence as a still small voice. Two very different moments. But if it were left up to us, we probably would have traded the experiences. Some people think God was too harsh in Exodus - scaring the children of Israel away from Him. Others think that God was too easy on Elijah, that he should have scolded him for hiding in the cave.
It is obvious that the children of Israel had no fear of God. In that moment, they needed the sin scared out of them. Elijah, who should have known better, needed a God of second chances. In that moment God gave him a second chance so He could return to his ministry.
Know that God is in that split second before this moment, and He is in the one after. With that kind of protection, what do we have to fear? Who is God at this moment? He is God that we need. He wants to be the God that we need.
What are your thoughts?
So when it comes to His presence in our midst, what can we understand? We can understand who God is in that moment. I reference again the book we are studying in LifeSkills, "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day". Author Mark Batterson references a Hebrew word from the Bible, "paniym". It can refer to the split second before something happens and the split second after something happens. Even though we cannot exist in either moment, God does.
In Ex.20:18-19 God's presence is in thunder and lightning. In 1 Kings 19 Elijah experiences God' presence as a still small voice. Two very different moments. But if it were left up to us, we probably would have traded the experiences. Some people think God was too harsh in Exodus - scaring the children of Israel away from Him. Others think that God was too easy on Elijah, that he should have scolded him for hiding in the cave.
It is obvious that the children of Israel had no fear of God. In that moment, they needed the sin scared out of them. Elijah, who should have known better, needed a God of second chances. In that moment God gave him a second chance so He could return to his ministry.
Know that God is in that split second before this moment, and He is in the one after. With that kind of protection, what do we have to fear? Who is God at this moment? He is God that we need. He wants to be the God that we need.
What are your thoughts?
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