Part Two: Taming God?While we can not tame God, God is not elusive. He wants to give us understanding. We know we can not control God's favor on us by what we do or do not do but can we know and understand what is happening to us?
"We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true (1 John 5:20)"
The story that God has put us in is so large that sometimes God seems to act unpredictable. The more we try to understand the more elusive he seems. The mystery of God is of such magnitude that He seems unreachable, unapproachable. Yet, the bible tells us we can have a full understanding of the Mysteries of God.
"My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:2-3)."
Today was such a nice day that I decided to wash my truck after church. My son rode his new bike around in the almost spring weather while I enjoyed being outside and washing the salt and mud off the beast. I was so thrilled to see my shiney, sweet looking truck come out from underneath that nasty winter muck that had covered up its shine. As I carefully drove my clean, shiney truck around an obstacle I watched closely in my mirror not to hit it but still somehow managed to put a six inch crease in the chrome panel on the rear passenger door.
My first reaction was "Why can't I ever have anything nice?" I was really trying to manuever carefully and still managed to crunch the truck. The more I tried to tell myself it was just a truck, just a thing, the more I thought, "Why can't I have just one thing I own stay nice?"
"I just can't have anything nice." I proclaimed. As my words echoed my youngest son looked over at me, waiting to see if I was going to go off like a crazy woman. Instead I sighed heavily, turned to him, and said calmly, "I don't know why I am acting so surprised. God already told me that nothing on this earth will last. His word tells us not to put our hope in the things of this world because they will be destroyed by rust or eaten by moths or stolen from us. So why do I act so shocked when it happens?"
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal (Matt 6:19)."
Though we can not tame God, maybe he is not that unpredictable after all. When the disciples asked Jesus if a sick boy had sinned or if his parents had sinned and caused him to be sick, they were trying to understand the cause and affect of thier behavior. In a way they wanted to understand how to tame God but Jesus' reply only reiterated the Mystery, yet faithfulness of God. "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life."
The work of God is being displayed all around us. The word of God tells us the things that will happen and still we act surprised when they do. We have an open book to understanding God as much as humanly possible but that understanding is not for our purpose. The understanding God gives us is to draw us closer to him and to encourage us, not to control him for our benefit. God's might will be displayed in our lives for God's purposes. God's mystery and magnitude are proclaimed by heaven and earth and yet, we continue to try to put God in a box and are shocked when He doesn't fit.
God can not be tamed.
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