“For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory.” (Rom 11:36 NLT)
All things come from Him.
All things exist by His power.
All things are intended for His glory.
I need to remind myself from time to time that I am not the center of the universe. That things do not exist for me… much less because of me. I am a part of the creation, a result of God’s design. I live and move and have my being in Him. (Acts 17:28) Apart from God, we don’t live. We would not exist at all. If God were to give the order, all that exists would vanish… including me.
That may seem a bit belittling to some. It doesn’t matter. We are little in this respect. We are powerless, and have no direct say or sway in God’s doings. He is God, not me. He is the creator, I am the one who awakes from the dust, gazing back into His face, wondering who and what I even am. He owes me nothing, not even an explanation; much less an answer. He has all right over my design, my destiny, and over what I should or should not do, and He retains all power and right over my life, even my destruction. He retains right over all creation because He is the creator. He made it all (Ps 95). I gladly grant Him this privileged place, but whether I do or not makes no difference. I am powerless to impact God’s existence. He does not believe in atheists. And His ways and choices cannot be impacted by anything I say, do, or think.
But, love moves Him most.
Yes, I believe God can be moved and “impacted.” It has been seen many times, and is recorded throughout history. He hears. He sees. He replies. He answers. He moves. But these responses are always best when they are responses to love.
God is love. He loves love. He loves to love. And I am quite certain, therefore, that he loves to be loved. That from that dusty moment I find myself gazing back at Him, wondering, thinking, breathing… that He longs and hopes for the day that this created one now looking at Him chooses Him. Chooses to love Him back, and to bow before him in loving respect and holy reverence; in joy and in pleasure.
The Scripture doesn’t say so implicitly, but I believe as much as “God is love,” He too “is relationship.” It is relationship God designed me for. Loving relationship.
I love God. I adore God. I stand in awe of Him. And though I am created in His image, by any direct comparison, I abhor myself. In His presence I don’t feel small, I am terrified. I fall apart, come entirely undone.
Thank God He loves me.
I thank God today that I not only have faith in God’s existence, but that I have come to know and experience the one, true, living God through the forgiveness afforded me by Jesus Christ. I am so thankful that He first chose me, and bid me to choose Him… and that by His loving and leading grace, I did.
Thinkerful 