AGREED ON GOD
My friend Doug posted photos on Facebook of things in nature that
caught his eye. A friend responded: “Are you seeking a refuge from the next
virus (or continuation of this one), or just having fun?” His answer was: “A
little of both, I think. I want to also show the beauty of life and that life
continues.” Doug and I are opposites in our opinions politically, but when it
comes to God’s creation and the reality of Jesus Christ the Messiah, we agree.
No person could logically argue over the magnificence of God’s creation.
We are always going to have differences of opinions on things,
including the Bible. Christians will never completely agree on every Biblical
doctrine, that is until we get to heaven, and what a great class that will be! But
for now, I firmly belief that not one denomination has the whole truth. Can any
Christian honestly say he or she understands every verse of the entire Bible? I
don’t think so.
As an example, I’ve read the book of Proverbs several times in my
life but recently started to take a closer look. I didn’t think it would be that
hard to understand, but I was wrong. I quickly realized I would need to get my dictionary
and Bible research books out to help me really grasp some of the concepts King Solomon
presented.
But, I know that my friend Doug and I agree on Jesus Christ and
the magnificence of our God’s creation, and so we can communicate and grow in
our appreciation of each other. We understand that we are both members in the
body of Christ, and we love each other like 1 John 2:10 says: “He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none
occasion of stumbling in him. We don’t stumble because we push the rocks
on the path out of our way and get back to looking at the glory of our God
together.
When I want to remind myself of the magnitude of our God, I go to
the book of Job and to the Psalms.
Psalm 33:6-9: “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and
all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he
layeth up the depth in storehouses.
“Let
all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in
awe of him.
“For
he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.”
Psalm 96 says: “Let the heavens
rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the
fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful,
and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the
wood rejoice before the Lord” (Ps. 96: 11-13).
In Job 37, God commands Job to halt and consider.
Sometimes we need to do that too.
“Hearken unto this, O Job: stand
still, and consider the wondrous works of God” (Job 37:14).
“God thundereth
marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot
comprehend. For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the
earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength” (Job
37:5-6).
“Then the beasts go into
dens, and remain in their places. Out of the south cometh the
whirlwind: and cold out of the north. By the
breath of God frost is given” (Job 37:8-10a).
Then in Job 39:
“Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the
bands of the wild ass? Whose house I have made the
wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings. He scorneth the multitude of the
city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver. The range of the
mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing.
“Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or
wings and feathers unto the ostrich? Which leaveth her eggs in the earth,
and warmeth them in dust, and forgetteth that the
foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them. She is
hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her
labour is in vain without fear; because God hath
deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding. What
time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider.
“Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his
neck with thunder? Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory
of his nostrils is terrible. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth
in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men. He mocketh at
fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword. The quiver
rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield. He swalloweth the
ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the
sound of the trumpet. He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the
battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
“Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings
toward the south? Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her
nest on high? She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock,
and the strong place. From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes
behold afar off” (Job 39:5-8, 13-30).
Job gives us some of God’s thundering magnificence, but In the
Song of Solomon, we are also encouraged to see our God as the tender lover that
He is. And He does this by calling us away to share the intimacy of His
tenderest creations.
“My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my
fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is
over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the
singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our
land; the fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the
vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my
love, my fair one, and come away” (Song of Sol. 2: 10-13).
Whether we need to be boldly confronted with the
magnificence of God like Job, or tenderly coerced into a quiet place where the
loudest thing you hear is the voice of a turtle, let’s take a quick or maybe
longer look at some of God’s creations this week and see what we can learn.
Love, Carolyn
