Week Six - And You Are...?

"O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth." Psalm 8:1a

"He is omniscient, which means that He knows in one free and effortless act all matter, all spirit, all relationships, all events. He has no past and He has no future. He is, and none of the limiting and qualifying terms used of creatures can apply to Him." A. W. Tozer "The Pursuit of God"

"If he ever consciously directs his prayer 'Not to what I think thou art, but to what thou knowest thyself to be', our situation is, for the moment, desperate." Senior Tempter Screwtape in "The Screwtape Letters" by C. S. Lewis

     Two quotes from men of God, and then words from a character much less "godly"! Yet they remind me of the old joke "God made man in his own image, and man has been trying to return the favor ever since!"

     Sometimes we encounter problems in praying because of our perception of who God is. We either see Him in human terms, like ourselves, and project our flawed, limited selves on Him, or we see Him as so mighty, powerful and fearful, that He seems aloof and unreachable, uncaring.

     The truth is that both perceptions are incorrect. No matter how we consider God, His ways, His thoughts, His being is so far above and beyond our limited minds, that we can never know Him complete. But that doesn't mean He won't come "down" to our level, to communicate with us. Even better, have a true relationship with us. Let's not confuse, however His relating at our level, with the awesomeness of who He truly is. These misconceptions come from us, not Him.

     We use symbols, icons and sacraments to help us focus on "aspects" of God, but there is nothing that can encompass all that He is. We tend, as humans will, then to focus on the symbols and traditions rather than the one they point to. Then we not only are not looking at God, but we worship the thing rather than the creator. And a prayer to a thing is worthless. We don't want to loose these icons, because they WILL help us focus and learn. But we must pray to Him as who He is, and not to what we think Him to be. A relationship built on a false perception is false and cannot last, but one focused on He who is greater than our highest expectation, will never fail.

     Our psalm this week is Psalm 123. Pray this psalm to God "not as we think He is, but as He knows Himself to be." I think you'll find it quite revealing!