March 23, Saturday ~ Giving Up a Small View of God

Giving Up a Small View of God

• Psalm 19:1-14

• Genesis 1:1-31

• Ephesians 3:14-19

This Saturday, we are giving up having a small view of God. We are so fortunate to have amazing images of space available to us today with just a click of a computer mouse. Some of them are beyond my comprehension, not just their content but the technology it took to take the photos. As amazed as I am by that, I am more awestruck by the nature of the God who spoke these things into being.

Genesis 1 says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be…’”

Where have you been that has the unique distinction to remind you of the vastness of God? On top of a mountain? Scuba diving? On board a ship in the middle of the ocean or rafting down the remote section of a wild river? Starring across the Grand Canyon? Being far enough removed from city lights that you could actually see deeply into the starry sky? Or maybe it was when you looked into a microscope and saw your first red blood cell or a squirmy organism?

The first time I saw the Grand Canyon was in 1977. I think I was speechless for days. All I could do was stand on the rim with my mouth hanging open. Words escaped me, but the vastness drew me in. Over the past 47 years, the Grand Canyon has been my sacred healing site, my centering home, the one place to realign me to God’s goodness, grace, and mercy in lightspeed fashion. I have hiked rim to rim six times and rafted the length of the Colorado River three times, and yet each time is a new experience for me with an old friend. I have changed so much over the decades, but the canyon remains steadfast. Each time, I am reminded that I am minuscule and powerless, but God is ever present, surrounding me with goodness, light, and love in amounts I can’t comprehend.

Spend some time thinking about how and where you have sensed the vastness of God. Journal about where you were, what you saw, and how it made you feel. Can you still conjure up that feeling or has it subsided somewhat? Maybe pulling up some photos online will help you get into that head space again. Feel God’s expansiveness and be thankful.

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:18-19)