Closer Than We Think

Daily Gratitude Year 6- Day 128: Today, I am grateful for a God who is closer than we think.

This cartoon was new to me. I could not find the artist to give credit. I really like the perspective.  "It seems like God is too far away from me." is the caption on the left. On the right, "I can't see anything. He is too far away." 

Oh yes, the less we see and understand... these are often the time he is very, very close. 

There are certain passages that never fail to make me pause. Many choose to reject the concept of a God because they limit him to what we understand by our scientific discoveries to date. Science... to me.. is man seeking to understand the magnificent order bound laws of nature. To me, the divine design is so complex that it speaks volumes and points to his deity. It all boils down to the choice to believe or reject. I choose to believe. 

Here are a few that make me pause to contemplate a God who is far greater than my human mind can fathom.

Genesis 1:2: "The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." 

God hovered. It is a gravity defying act of power that does not necessarily respect what we understand as the limits of time, gravity and space. Man imitates hovering, after many years of research, design, testing, failing and finally figuring out how to make it work using nature's laws. God simply chooses to hover... and he does. He is omnipotent. 

His clock is not our clock.

2 Peter 3:8: "But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." 

Psalm 90:4:" For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night." 

How can we even begin to comprehend His ways and His days? Curiosity makes us try. We were created in his image. The curious side of God's nature is evident in the gift of free will. The ability to choose or reject a relationship with him. We can run to Him... or push him away at every turn with arrogance, confidence and our strong independent streaks. 

Genesis 1:27: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

"In his image", explains so much. Yet, when you get past all of the magnificent omnipotence, our God longed for more. For love. To love and be loved in return. We get that from him, too. Creating man was risky business. Stars were easy. Hang them. Count them. Call them by name. They obey. Humans were the wild card, but the most treasured of all creation. He even took the risk to take on human flesh to better understand our weaknesses. 

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." - Matthew 6:13 

He knew what it was like to be tempted and taught us to pray for guidance so that we might be lead in the opposite direction. We still manage to find trouble. At least, I do. Sometimes on our own and other times, the enemy sets snares hoping to break us down by the burden of our sins and troubles. 

2 Corinthians 2:9: "But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

His strength shines in our shortcomings, when we let him direct our paths and seek him with our whole hearts. When we do that... he promises to be with us until the end of the age. Omnipresent. Always. 

One of the first quotes I wrote in my Bible as a teen was this one:
"If God seems far away, who moved?" Even in our disobedience, he may be silent and waiting for our hearts to turn to Him, but he his not absent. 

There were 400 earth years between the Old and New Testaments. God continued to move quietly and strategically. He was never far away. Not then and not now. 

Today, I am grateful for a God who is closer than we think.