Discover

Discover

Can you solve the mysteries of God? Can you discover everything about the Almighty? Such knowledge is higher than the heavens.

MY MOM WAS IN FIFTH GRADE when she discovered her mother’s gift. The family had recently moved to Mandan, North Dakota, and my grandma Donette was a neighborly sort of person. She’d often visit the neighbor ladies to have coffee and chat.

But one day, my mom ran over to ask a question, something that couldn’t wait. Knowing her mother was inside the neighbor’s house, she didn’t bother knocking on the door, but instead let herself in. Hearing music, she headed toward the source. Standing on the edge of the living room, she hovered in the doorway as she watched Donette play a sweeping song on the neighbor’s piano. She was spellbound. She’d had no idea that her mother played the piano at all, much less so beautifully.

As children, we see our parents only in relation to ourselves. In some ways, they are two-dimensional beings, not fully formed beyond the role that defines them to us. Their lives before us, their hopes and dreams, their more complex emotions—all of those are conversations that most parents don’t have with young children. It’s only later, as adults ourselves, that we can appreciate the fullness of who our parents are, in all of their complex, beautiful, imperfect humanity.

God, too, can sometimes seem unknowable. His ways are mysterious, his decisions unfathomable. And as his children, it can be easy to see him only in relation to ourselves—as a Father who loves us, yes, but one whom we’ll never fully understand. Yet as we spend time reading God’s Word and spending time in his presence, we’ll often discover a fuller picture of him. His mercy. His grace. His justice. His love for truth. His forgiveness. His creativity. His unending love. Those discoveries can not only help us appreciate God, but they can give us a better understanding of our own purpose in this world.

Lord, help us to take the time to discover who you are. We long to know you more fully. Amen.

-Kristin

One Good Step: What’s one surprising idea you’ve discovered about God recently? How does that change your understanding of him?