The Awareness and Desire for God - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him today and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Corinthians 1:21,

"For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not
know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached
to save those who believe."

I recall the atheist entertainer, Penn Jillette, of "Penn and Teller"
fame, saying in an interview I watched, "If God wanted us to believe
in him, he should have left us with more evidence of himself" (or
something close to those words).

Possibly something few think about is that God has created for us, in
this life, an environment where we have a certain limited awareness of
him, a limited view of him. Although God is manifest in the creation
we live in and in the very fact we exist, Jillette's observation is
interesting to ponder.

Paul's comment in the above verse addresses Jillette's observation.
God has chosen that we, as human beings in this life, this age, cannot
see him directly. We don't see him sitting on his throne in heaven, we
often don't see the things he accomplishes within the dimensions of
time and space. In fact, we cannot see anything beyond the dimensions
of time and space, where God dwells. Only in exceptional circumstances
will he allow himself to be seen or observed, as in the burning bush,
or the visit to Abraham by his three visitors, Paul's encounter with
Jesus on the road to Damascus, etc. "The world through its wisdom did
not know him."

We live this life in a veiled existence where we cannot see, for the
most part, the things of God and God himself. Why "in the wisdom of
God" has he placed us in such an existence where we have this very
limited ability to perceive him, to know him?

Clearly, the answer lies in God's election to choose for his family
all those of us who embrace him in faith. For faith to have the
ability within us to express itself, it requires this limited ability
to perceive him. Faith demonstrates that those of us who have
responded to the gospel message ("the foolishness of what was
preached") desire God in a way nothing else can.

My limited ability to perceive God through normal senses and intellect
manifests that I really want God to be there when I place my faith in
him - and there he was when I did! Our willingness to take that "step
beyond" whatever wisdom the world can provide us proves we love and
want God.

This is God in his wisdom!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!

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