Skip to main content

Playing Games

 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,

On those who wait for His faithfulness,
To rescue their soul from death
And to keep them alive in famine.

Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
 For our heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
Let Your favor, Lord, be upon us,
Just as we have waited for You. (Psalm 34:18-22)

 

Yesterday was a difficult day. In the middle of it, I took some time out to pray and meditate about one of God’s many names. Which one? That was the problem of the moment. There are a lot of names that might be useful. The problem is that God is God. I may ask that He be Jehovah-Rophi (The Lord, the Physician) and He might come to me as Jehovah-Shalom (The Lord, Our Peace.) So, my prayer became, “Who are you, Lord? Who do You wish to be in my life right now?”

And the answer that came back? I suppose you might say it was a sort of smile. I love words, and I love definitions, but one of the things that I’ve learned about definitions is that the limit the thing defined. God can’t be limited in that way, so, at least as it seemed to me, He said that He would not tell me, but that I should observe and try to guess.

And my mind, being my mind, returned, “Charades?” It’s not quite Charades, because God isn’t pantomiming. It’s not even His goal for me to guess, it is to do what He does, and if I wish, I can try to guess what it is He’s doing. This morning as I continue to think about the matter, it seems to me we’re also playing Hide and Go Seek. Again, it’s not that God is necessarily hiding, but that I need to seek Him as if He were hiding because my seeing Him – well, let’s just say that it’s closer to Blind Man’s Bluff.

This may all sound quite silly, but if taken seriously (as I hope) it’s likely to change the way I seek, see, and find God.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more