Hollywood has not yet recognized what truly tingles the spine, buckles the knees, quakes the heart, and turns bones into jelly. To meet God is a terrifying adventure.
~Terry Lindvall
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of Him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
~ Isaiah, in chapter 6 of Isaiah
Oh beloved, it is true.
There is no way (yet) for us to fully understand. We are part of an overwhelming mystery. There is this One who is the Container of time, yet has no boundaries inside or outside of Himself. And across the fullness of Who He Is, nothing changes. Eternity is both the simple palette and habitation of where He is and what He does.
Any sense that we can begin to actually comprehend Him is a pitiful display of the most audacious pride. For, in coming to any sort of understanding, the threads of our thought – and even our existence – begin to come undone. The
Astounding Goodness
Incomprehensible Purity
Unceasing Love
Jaw-dropping Power
Infinite Eternality
Mind-bending Wisdom
Utter Peace
Total Joy
Unchanging Reality
And a Holiness which can not ever be described.
We try, but any human approach falls short. To even try seems to be a foolish venture. We are constantly falling short. Our lives, our attempts to love – and our seeking to understand – are always broken. We gaze into the unapproachable Light and He overloads our receptors. There is a stunning effect in the effulgence of the infinite beauty He pours forth into our souls.
We can’t imagine. He is simply too Good, and much too Real for us to begin to understand. And it is here where the mystery goes even deeper. It is so astounding that something in our flesh nearly always screams that it simply cannot be true. But in our better moments…
We know Him. We can hear His Voice. We can feel His pleasure – in us. And He is utterly, completely, totally and astoundingly available to us. What is this? Why? Who are we, that He is mindful of us?
And then the bottom drops out of our understanding altogether. He simply Is Who He Is. There is no motive. For motive implies that something has moved something else – and He is the Prime Mover.
He Loves us.
He Loves us.
He Loves us.
He Loves us, and He doesn’t even need us. And this needlessness on His part makes the Love even more astoundingly pure. He Loves us and is preparing a place for us, and a Homecoming for us that will make the creation of the universe we know pale in comparison.
He knows the battles we have been through (for He has been through them too – both Individually and alongside each one of us). And at the end of the protracted conflict in this cosmos is coming a victory celebration in the near Presence of our King; Him wrapping His arms around you (and me) – SCREAMING AND LAUGHING FOR JOY at the resolution and consummation of the age. Him, Loving us and welcoming us into His arms beloved.
Did you read this? Can you hear the roar of the crowd as they celebrate what HE has done in your life?
Listen.
Taste it.
It’s real.
As is often the case, this fool of a writer is a bit lost in his words. But this same fool can hear Him telling me how very pleased He is in His preparations for my Homecoming – and yours. So, beloved, are you tired? Are you overwhelmed? Set it aside. It’s not real.
Tonight is your night beloved. Taste the Age to come. Feast on it.
See you there.
In what way, or by what manner of working, God changes a soul from evil to good—how he impregnates the barren rock with priceless gems and gold—is, to the human mind, an impenetrable mystery.
