Drawing God My Way
For this is what the high and exalted One says—he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. Isaiah 57:15
The story is told that Art Linkletter saw a small boy scribbling on a sheet of paper. “What are you drawing?” Linkletter asked. “I’m drawing a picture of God.” “You can’t do that, because nobody knows what God looks like.” “They will when I’m finished,” the boy confidentially replied.
Throughout history man has tried to discover and reveal the nature and magnitude of God. From folklore to tradition, man somehow feels more settled and in control if he can put God in a box and make Him whatever man wants Him to be.
Man is always looking for something more; something to make sense of an unsettled existence. Swinging between trivializing and sensationalizing the deity of God, man surmises that somehow in doing so he can lay hold of the mysteries and plans of God; but he cannot. (Job 11:7-9). Attempting to do so is vain. In the process, idolatry is birthed and man begins to actually believe his own version of the unsearchable, incomprehensible God. The confusion of our current society is fertile ground for the evil one to manipulate our fear and impatience, leading us down the path of idolatrous individualism.
Isaiah 57:15 presents a paradox of a God who hides yet still reveals Himself to the lowly in spirit. A God who is in the heavens yet is still nearby his people. (Jeremiah 23:23-24). Our omnipotent Creator is entirely beyond our comprehension. While we may see glimpses of the revelation of who God is, we will always fall short of complete understanding. And that is Okay!
The Good News is that our God sees us, even when we struggle to see Him. (2 Chronicles 16:9). The Lord is seeking humble, contrite hearts (Isaiah 66:2); those whose hearts are open, pliable and willing to obey even in the absence of complete understanding of His nature and plan. (Hebrews 11:6). We do not have to know all things; we just need to know the ‘Maker’ of all things and let that be enough. When we come near to God, He promises to come near to us (James 4:7-10). Herein lies grace; and grace is all we need.
Prayer
Father, thank You for reminding me that, “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” (1 Cor 13:12). In Jesus’ Name, Amen