Mysterious God

Mysterious God

Clouds and thick darkness surround him.

Psalm 97:2

IN WORD Can we worship someone we can’t see clearly? It stretches us to try. We describe God’s greatness in our praises and we give gratitude for the good things He has done, all the while knowing that we’re missing the mark. Whatever we can conceive of when we think of God is going to fall woefully short of who He really is. The biggest, greatest, most awesome being we can imagine is an insufficient image of God. If our minds can come up with it, it won’t measure up.

Perhaps that’s why we are so prone to idolatry: We like to worship things we can see. Our adoration seems to beg for specifics. When we fall in love with a person, we adore the way she smiles or the way he walks. But when we fall in love with our God, what do we have to hang on to? His ways are mysterious, His thoughts higher than ours. Clouds and thick darkness surround Him.

That’s why God sent us Jesus. “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (Hebrews 1:3). Though we can’t completely comprehend Him, we can “see” Him. Even if we didn’t walk Galilee and Judea all those years ago, we can see Him through the eyes of His disciples. We can know what He has said and how He has related to other human beings. We don’t have to wonder, as did a popular song a few years ago, “What if God was one of us?” For a moment in time and through the eternal Word, He was. And is.

IN DEED Why do clouds and thick darkness surround God? Because seeing Him fully would blow a poor creature’s circuits as completely as a million-volt current running through a 110-volt appliance. And also because of sin. We are too small to comprehend Him naturally, and too unholy to comprehend Him righteously.

But we worship a God who has made Himself accessible. We take that for granted, but the rest of the universe is amazed. Avoid the idolatry that our limited vision craves. Jesus has pierced the cloudy darkness and invited us higher.

Behold, the Heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, and thou sayest, Come ye all unto me.

—THOMAS À KEMPIS