Maybe it is because of that background, maybe it is because I use to paint in oils and acrylics, maybe it's because of my nature, but in a way, I tend to think of God as a Creative Artist in many ways.
Over the course of my life, I have heard some refer to God as the Divine Clock Maker, or even as a Divine Engineer and since the advent of Lucasfilm and the Star Wars Empire - God as an Immovable Force in the universe which embodies everything has been a popular thought.
Yet, I believe if you think of God in any of these methods, you will go astray.
God did not create the universe, 'wind it up' and then let it go - standing back to see what happens. I collect interesting clocks - seeing them, I know this is not the nature of God's involvedment in the universe because God is far more involved in my life than I am in my clock's life.
God is not simply the Engineer of Creation; He is much more - He is the Sustainer.
And while the Spirit of God is omnipresent, He is not an impersonal nor an immovable force to be found in all things. Believing God inhabits an earthworm would deify the worm and lessen the nature of humans, being created in the image of God Himself.
When thinking of my life over the last several years, it has been a tough road to walk - but I have not walked it alone. I remember back to over a year ago when I was first diagnosed with Cancer - duty at the Air Guard came and I went, I believe it was in November.
I can remember driving early in the morning and for the first time I was alone with my thoughts and was able to fully process what was being said about my future.
I had been told that I was stage four and I was dying of lung cancer; truthfully I did not think I could handle dying that way because I have seen and been with people as they died with this disease.
It is a hard way to go and I didn't think I could do it.
As it turned out - though physically alone - I wasn't alone and I've never truly been alone; for none are alone when God's Spirit indwells within their soul.
As it turned out - they were mistaken, God had other plans and I did not have lung cancer; and while adrenal cancer is far worse, the end results have been much better because I have never been without the care and compassion of God.
Having said that, tomorrow I will return to Cleveland, be examined and determine a route to go as far as treatment. Only this time, it is my spleen with a large tumor and it is alone; nothing else seems to be involved.
Yet, like last time and God being the Creative Master that He is - I do tend to wonder what I'm going to go through and what He's going to do with this one because the last time, He was absolutely amazing.
You see, every artist in human life is amazing in their own way; God has empowered and enlightened a particular individual to shine His light in a unique way.
For example, John Wesley wrote sermons; his brother Charles wrote hymns.
Every creative artist has their own medium whether it is a canvass, a pulpit or a piano.
If the universe which has been created was a theatrical play, I know that God would not let the characters ruin the plot.
No - each time we have threatened the story, He has mercifully intervened.
Whether it was Adam being expelled from the Garden, lest he inherit eternal life and live forever in a fallen state, or in the Council of Nicene (325 AD) when God's ministers were led
And if I want to know God the Father and what He seeks from my life, all I have to do is open the Scriptures and examine Jesus; which I have - extensively.
In the three years in which Jesus ministered on a small tract of land in the Near East, He did more to convey the nature and love of God than all the prophets before Him, all the apostles with Him and all the Christian ministers after Him - combined.
Jesus Himself confirmed, when we have seen Him, we have seen the Father.
The author of Hebrews calls Him the 'image of the invisible God.'
This makes me wonder - 'As a Child of God, what is my Reflection of God who lives within me?'
While no person can fully know God, our relationship with Him has been defined and depends on what God chooses to reveal to us. All other relationships we have depend on what we let people know of us - not so with God for He knows everything.
We get to know people from their 'stories' - those who know me know parts of my story throughout life. With God, we get to know Him through His Word - and that is His story.
In the Old Testament, God appeared to Cain, to Moses and to Jacob; in each of these stories God revealed something of His nature which built on previous knowledge.
Though God was known in the Old Testament, He moved much closer and revealed much more about Himself in the person of Jesus and later in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within His people.
Without question, I have grown spiritually in the last 18 months; this growth spirit has been the result of the various diseases and conditions discovered in my failing then reviving health.
I have grown to be able to see God in people and situations that I would have never noticed before.
As a result, sometimes I think American Evangelicals unwittingly 'box God in,' thereby limiting what they believe He can do in their lives and through their lives.
It is as if some have become too familiar with some of the attributes of God and clueless about other attributes.
This is sad because it is in seeing God in and through others that we learn who we are to be in this world.
In a way, I think Americans have regressed in our understanding of God. Just last night I watched a football player thank God for the win.
In that moment, I thought of two things:
- Does God really watch football and does He even care since He knows who will win?- More importantly, I wondered what the parents of a 5 year-old child dying of bone cancer thinks of a God who will help the Seattle Seahawks win a football game but He will not heal their child?
Looking back to the Hebrews, the first thing that truly impressed them about God and got their attention was His compassion, not His power.
Interestingly enough, many times it is our compassion - not our knowledge, money, material belongings, personal power or anything else - it is our compassion that touches the hearts of others.
In Egypt, the Hebrews had been enduring the plight of slavery for 400 years; but through Moses they realized that God truly cared about what was happening to them.
And it is the same in our lives - God cares about what is happening to us as well.
Whether it is my tumor or another Christian's shot nerves, a person dealing with the effects of age or a spouse with a broken heart because of a broken vow - God's compassion and care can bring forth His power in our lives - if we will but look to Him.
There are roughly six billion people in the world; and God knows every one of us by our names. He is a Father with a limitless appetite for love and a well-spring of care and compassion, especially when we need it the most.
As the Church Father Augustine rightly said:
'God loves each one of us as if there was only one of us to love.'
Many have experienced this truth, sadly, within the church itself; sometimes those who gather power within the Body begin to stifle love and grieve the Spirit.
As Christians, the Lord said others would know that we were His by our love for Him and for one another.
Looking to the Father in this life presumes you look to Him rightly.
As Elijah discovered so many years ago - God is not always in the grand power displays or the fantastic signs; He is often not as a fire or a bombastic earthquake.
Instead, God is in the whisper.
And it is in this whisper, hearing the voice of God, we are led amid His boundless love for us as His children.
As I look to the Father, experiencing His grace and love, my heart and mind is expectant to find out what the doctors say - simply because I can't wait to see what He plans to do with this one.
Until next time, try to win one for the good guys.
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