Two Simple Comments that Have Me Re-evaluating My View of God

The first comment happened like this: we were sitting on the couch yesterday. Just Caleb – my 9-year-old – and me. Everyone else was asleep. We were watching a big spider building a web right outside our living room window.

We talked about how amazing spiders are. How great of an inventor God is. The conversation turned to the good that spiders do: eating up millions of bugs that would otherwise be flying around and landing on you and me. (Sorry if I just creeped you out a bit.)

That’s when I said, “I know why God created spiders, even though so many people think they’re gross and are afraid of them. But I have no idea why God created mosquitoes. I’d like to ask God why he did that someday.”

There was a long pause. Then Caleb said, “Dad? Do you really think there has to be a reason for everything?”

“Well…er…no, son. I guess there doesn’t.”

I don’t know about you, but so often I feel like there has to be a reason for everything. Not only that, but somehow God is supposed to explain it to me. He doesn’t have to do it now, but I have this picture in my head of me, standing before God, asking him question after question, with him ticking off the list with answers that satisfy my curiosity.

Maybe he’ll do that for some questions. Maybe, just maybe, he will look me in the eye, grin, and say “Do you really think there has to be a reason for everything?”

Makes me think of God’s conversation with Job (starts in chapter 38):

“Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:

‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?

Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you,

and you must answer them.

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?

Tell me, if you know so much.’”

The second comment happened on Sunday. Our youth pastor was preaching on worship, being in awe of God; being blown away by God’s majesty, power, and glory. He read from Revelation 4 and 5. (If you haven’t read that description of worship in the Throne Room of God, you should pause and go do it now. Amazing!)

Somewhere in the middle of the sermon he said this:

“As soon as you get to the place where everything about God is understandable and ‘makes sense,’ what you have actually done is created God in your own image.”

Ouch.

I wonder how many times I have done that to one extent or another. Tried to simplify God so much that I forgot the mystery. Explained the way God works in a way that completely dismissed the Holy Spirit. Reduced faith to step-by-step plans that eliminate any need to pursue a deep and intimate relationship with Jesus.

How many times have I made God in my own image?

Why am I so afraid to let God be big? To let Him be holy? To let Him be mysterious? To let Him be all-knowing (when I am not)? To let Him be all-powerful (when I am not)?

When am I going to be okay with God being – well – God? When am I going to say, along with the apostle Paul,

“Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

For who can know the Lord’s thoughts?

Who knows enough to give him advice?” (Romans 11:33-35)

Question: How about you? What have you heard or read that has you thinking, pondering, and re-evaluating how you see God?

Read an earlier post from Keith here.