Have you ever wanted to find a specific item you have seen on line and when you look around the stores in your area it is nowhere to be found? It can be pretty frustrating not to mention time consuming. First you look on the manufacturer's sit for stores that carry the product then you call store after store where you are informed that they don't stock it but there is one in Albuquerque but they can't ship by normal freight. Arrrgh!

For most of us we approach this same level of frustration in our relationship with God. We go to worship, attend retreats, some of us even seek Spiritual Direction with our Pastor or other trained directors. It seems that everywhere we search God has just left. We cry out like Isaiah and say "Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior." (Isaiah 45:15) To which Luther responds of course... "God's real Essence as well as his will, government, and working are absolutely above all human thought, understanding and wisdom. In short, they are, and continue to be, incomprehensible, inscrutable, and completely hidden from human reason." (W 21, 514) This is really hard for everyone who truly loves God and wishes to have a more intimate relationship.

This makes a life of faith seem almost impossible. How could a God who loves us hide from us when we only want to draw closer? From our point of view it can almost seem as if God does not care. Yet the few times God has spoken to us directly we have either not understood or been frightened to death. Remember the time the people of Israel stood before Mount Sinai and God spoke the Ten Commandments so all of them could hear for themselves. Instead of understanding and commitment they cried out to Moses and said "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die." Exodus 20:19 We always imagine how wonderful it would if God would speak to us, yet when it finally happens we are frightened and fall to pieces. It is not just sin that separates us from God, it is the vast difference in the way God perceives things and the limitations of not only our sensory perception and but our thought process as well.

So how can we even begin to have a closer relationship with our God? Our God who loves us is constantly trying to speak to us in ways that we can not only understand but that will draw us deeper into the heart of God. The focus of this is of course Jesus Christ. As the author of Hebrew tells us; Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being.
Hebrews 1:1-3

We could wander aimlessly our whole life long and still not know a great deal about our creator. Instead we should seek the risen Christ, the Word, for that is how God has chosen to be revealed. Though we might prefer another way, one more in keeping with our own image of ourselves, the sad truth is that even the slightest direct communication with God creates a sensory overload. Jesus is Immanuel, God with us. The more you know about him, the easier it becomes to recognize his presence in our daily lives. As we learn to recognize Jesus' presence we will naturally grow closer to the Father. As Jesus so mysteriously told "The Father and I are one." Read from the Gospels today as Jesus encouraged us; Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:29

Pastor Jim Bliss
May 2010