Incomprehensible: Day 2

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.

Deut. 33:27

It is helpful to keep in mind that the formal meaning of comprehend is “get the meaning of something; include as part of something broader; have as one’s sphere or territory.”

An informal meaning might be “wrap your head around it.”

God has given us His Son, His Spirit and His Word. Scripture promises that “His power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His grace and glory…”. Did you notice that God has done it all? His power, His calling, His fulfilling of our needs. And aren’t we glad of that?

However, for us who are living in these me-centered, comfort-driven, pop-psychology times, a subtle problem can result: We too easily see everything in terms of me and now. Our spiritual life starts to center around what God is doing for us, even what God is doing in us. When our faith walk and our godward thoughts are limited like this, our spiritual lens shrinks and shrinks until our relationship with the Lord of the universe begins to look very much like a two-person selfie.

If/when something comes along that is outside the boundaries of either our expectations or our resources, we look suspiciously at the God-- who would let this happen--and conclude that He is either capriciously cruel or woefully inadequate for our situation.

But it is in love that God has to let us experience the end of our resources so that we may gain a bigger and better understanding of Him. The truth is this: when all the verses have been read and the prayers have been said, we must let go and trust the everlasting arms. For many it will be the trust fall of their lives and their final landing place may not be experienced this side of eternity.

But that is what heaven is for…

Nancy Shirah