I remember as a boy growing up going to Bear Lake Bible Camp. Bear lake was really an oversized mud puddle. Im sure that if you tried open up a camp there in this day and age the Government would not allow you becuase of the dirty muddy murky waters of the lake. But I had some pretty awesome memories of that camp. It was a place God met me many a time. But the lake was impossible to see in because it was so murky.
Murky, I like the word, it is like one of those words that sounds like what it means almost onomatopoeic (that’s my big word for the day!) Murky according to the dictionary is obscure, vague, thick with mist, it can even mean dark and gloomy. Murky can also be spelled “Mirky” which I thought was kind of funny since the word means unclear and it is unclear which way to spell it is correct. Murky. Paul said that "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." There is a part of our faith which is murky. There is a part that is quite unknowable this side of glory. There is a veil, there is a reflection that is cloudy not clear like mirrors today but more like the reflection of off a broken piece of glass, or a polished piece of aluminum or tin. I think this is a vital part of our experience of faith in the here and now. We don’t have a corner on the truth. Any more than Paul didn’t have a corner on the truth. We can know certain things for certain but there is a huge amount of God that resides in mist, he is murky, unfathomable, unsearchable, unknowable. This keeps my faith fresh, my prayers earnest, my search for more understanding unending. It keeps my faith fluid and in motion and I am so glad for that.
God is also conscious of those not yet in faith who need to see him. To those outside the faith he is the exact opposite, he is clearly seen, his fingerprints are all over everything, his DNA is left behind for those who take the time and have the desire to know him. He has left behind a mountain of clear evidence that points to him. No fog or mist to hide him.
As Paul affirms in Romans One, "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." So God in his mercy has made entrance into faith clear so that no one is without excuse and in his wisdom has made life inside of faith just murky enough to make us search to clarify, seek to have the Holy Spirit illuminate, ask questions to enlighten the truth of God’s word and our experience of him through his word.God is Good All the Time.
1 comment:
I like your analogy. In reflection, I kind of thought of God as this great and wonderful Creator, who made me, loves me, and offered salvation to me. Now as a christian, the more I learn about God and the more intimate my relationship with him, the bigger and more grandiose my picture of Him is. so when I translate into your analogy, I think each time you 'break through' a murky level of understanding and are privileged to see new aspects of God, and you also see a greater amount of murkiness as your understanding of God grows to encompass the tantalizing depths to still go with God. Each breakthrough brings new levels of murkiness...and God's glory. PTL!
Post a Comment