I haven't yet found it in Scripture but I am sure there is a verse that talks about how much God loves "Where's Waldo" books. They seem like something He would really get a kick out of.
He just seems to really be into the seeking and finding and being sought and being found kind of thing. The whole plan of humanity is that we find Him and that He finds us.
Proverbs 25:2 says that "It is the glory of the Lord to conceal a matter (NIV)."
Now there are some verses that I read and I'm like "Wow! This is incredible! I'm going to go Tweet this and post it on Facebook and maybe even write a cute blog about how awesome this verse is."
This is not one of those verses. Instead of highlighting this one I just want to scratch it out. You might be a stronger Christian than me and would never even think about scratching out one of the very words of God but I guess I am not that spiritual. I don't like this verse for the same reason that I hate "Where's Waldo" books.
I don't want anything hidden from me. I don't want to have to search for my answers. I want to know it all, right now.
I seem to be missing the point of everything. The rest of the verse says "to search out a matter is the glory of kings."
Hmm. So God gets glory by playing the "hider" in this game of hide-and-go-seek and I get glory by being the "seeker."
In 1st Corinthians chapter 2 verse 6 Paul says something awesome, which is very characteristic of him.
"We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began."
Now I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty epic. "The Secret Wisdom of God" would know about how to create a universe, how to tame a leviathan, and tell storms to be quiet- which is pretty much the definition of the word "epic." I feel like this verse should end with something like "One ring to rule them all."
There are some times, though, when I could care less about the mysteries of God. Sometimes I would be OK just knowing that He is still around.
We all face those times when God is nowhere to be found. All of the sudden you start picturing Jesus in a red and white striped sweater with a matching hat because he has become just another Waldo to find in the midst of chaos. He is just another thing in this world that requires your full attention to try and find surrounded by things meant to confuse you. You search and search until your eyes start bleeding and you have pulled out all your hair out of frustration. You have come across a lot of things that looked like the God you were searching for but none of them were the real thing, only dressed like it. You give up, because you think a God who would abandon you when you needed Him most doesn't deserve to be sought after any longer.
All of the sudden you look down only to discover that you are wearing the ugly red and white striped sweater. You are wearing the ugly matching hat. You are Waldo (or Wendy).
This whole time you have been looking for God you have missed the fact that he is desperately searching for you. The difference between Him and you is that He never gives up until Waldo is found.
So we have a dilemma. If God and I are both looking for each other, then why is it so hard to actually connect? The reason is that God is only found by those who want to be found themselves. Until we decide to give God permission to search us out we will not get one opportunity to search Him out.
It all makes sense that way. Human beings are designed to seek, not just to be found. If we were just handed everything we ever wanted we wouldn't have anything to make our lives worth it. We seek everything and spend our whole lives doing it. Usually, the things we seek could be completely explored and searched out in a couple years. The pursuit of God could go for eternity without ever reaching the end, that point where we have totally figured God out.
The beautiful thing is that we really have all of eternity.
C.S. Lewis described Heaven in his parable like book, The Great Divorce as a great mountain range where people spent eternity journeying deeper and deeper into the mountains. With each step, they grew closer and closer to the full glory of God, but it takes them all of eternity to get there. I really like this idea because I used to picture Heaven as spending the first couple millennia getting answers from God about all the things that I had questions about (if Adam and Eve had bellybuttons, why the chicken crossed the road etc) and then after now knowing everything there is to know I would just spend the rest of the time playing UNO with Martin Luther.
I am overjoyed that I serve a God so big it will take me forever to know.
If you think about it, pursuing God is the only thing that we will be doing forever, we might as well start now. If we seek, we shall find.
He just seems to really be into the seeking and finding and being sought and being found kind of thing. The whole plan of humanity is that we find Him and that He finds us.
Proverbs 25:2 says that "It is the glory of the Lord to conceal a matter (NIV)."
Now there are some verses that I read and I'm like "Wow! This is incredible! I'm going to go Tweet this and post it on Facebook and maybe even write a cute blog about how awesome this verse is."
This is not one of those verses. Instead of highlighting this one I just want to scratch it out. You might be a stronger Christian than me and would never even think about scratching out one of the very words of God but I guess I am not that spiritual. I don't like this verse for the same reason that I hate "Where's Waldo" books.
I don't want anything hidden from me. I don't want to have to search for my answers. I want to know it all, right now.
I seem to be missing the point of everything. The rest of the verse says "to search out a matter is the glory of kings."
Hmm. So God gets glory by playing the "hider" in this game of hide-and-go-seek and I get glory by being the "seeker."
In 1st Corinthians chapter 2 verse 6 Paul says something awesome, which is very characteristic of him.
"We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began."
Now I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty epic. "The Secret Wisdom of God" would know about how to create a universe, how to tame a leviathan, and tell storms to be quiet- which is pretty much the definition of the word "epic." I feel like this verse should end with something like "One ring to rule them all."
There are some times, though, when I could care less about the mysteries of God. Sometimes I would be OK just knowing that He is still around.
We all face those times when God is nowhere to be found. All of the sudden you start picturing Jesus in a red and white striped sweater with a matching hat because he has become just another Waldo to find in the midst of chaos. He is just another thing in this world that requires your full attention to try and find surrounded by things meant to confuse you. You search and search until your eyes start bleeding and you have pulled out all your hair out of frustration. You have come across a lot of things that looked like the God you were searching for but none of them were the real thing, only dressed like it. You give up, because you think a God who would abandon you when you needed Him most doesn't deserve to be sought after any longer.
All of the sudden you look down only to discover that you are wearing the ugly red and white striped sweater. You are wearing the ugly matching hat. You are Waldo (or Wendy).
This whole time you have been looking for God you have missed the fact that he is desperately searching for you. The difference between Him and you is that He never gives up until Waldo is found.
So we have a dilemma. If God and I are both looking for each other, then why is it so hard to actually connect? The reason is that God is only found by those who want to be found themselves. Until we decide to give God permission to search us out we will not get one opportunity to search Him out.
It all makes sense that way. Human beings are designed to seek, not just to be found. If we were just handed everything we ever wanted we wouldn't have anything to make our lives worth it. We seek everything and spend our whole lives doing it. Usually, the things we seek could be completely explored and searched out in a couple years. The pursuit of God could go for eternity without ever reaching the end, that point where we have totally figured God out.
The beautiful thing is that we really have all of eternity.
C.S. Lewis described Heaven in his parable like book, The Great Divorce as a great mountain range where people spent eternity journeying deeper and deeper into the mountains. With each step, they grew closer and closer to the full glory of God, but it takes them all of eternity to get there. I really like this idea because I used to picture Heaven as spending the first couple millennia getting answers from God about all the things that I had questions about (if Adam and Eve had bellybuttons, why the chicken crossed the road etc) and then after now knowing everything there is to know I would just spend the rest of the time playing UNO with Martin Luther.
I am overjoyed that I serve a God so big it will take me forever to know.
If you think about it, pursuing God is the only thing that we will be doing forever, we might as well start now. If we seek, we shall find.
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