It’s been a while, that’s for sure. maybe it started off with me being lazy about writing, but i definitely feel that my shift in focus was probably due to the constant need to be filled with many aspects of life i’ve missed my passionate calling for in my earlier years. I’ll write about this later.
But since i’ve decided to take this week as kind of a physical break to recover from exhaustion and resetting my immune system, time has definitely slowed down a lot. My free time used to be filled up with the constant need to be active in video gaming or just lazing around and not really accomplishing anything; with the current change/focus in my life, i feel like those time wasting things weren’t fulfilling at any moment. I’ve decided on those before, but it’s definitely become more clear now (i’m not gonna lie but there will still be times when i won’t want to do anything and people will be able to understand that probably in my next post).
But now to re-align this post to really the purpose of writing again. sometime around the beginning of april, the young adult small group began reading the book “Crazy Love” for the biweekly bible study reading. A little background on the book, it’s written by Francis Chan who had become sick of the average Christian life and had wanted something more. at first, i saw this more as another type of radical living which would usually be imposed on college students by pastors to want them to do something more with their life (this is by no means a way of me bashing, merely just an observation i have noticed throughout different colleges and groups i’ve been to). But as we read more into this book, i was able to see the merits of his points and his reasonings. It’s not so much about bringing new changes to other people’s lives in various different ways, but first changing yourself and being crazy in love with God.
ch.1 – stop praying.
I’ve always felt that prayer shouldn’t be restricted to just be the only time to talk to God and that your everyday life should pretty much have Him immersed within it so that He would be with you in everything you would do throughout the day. However, the focus of the first chapter went even deeper than what i have previously thought.
Take some time before going into prayer or just anything you do and just be in awe of what God has created around you. Understand the awespiring power He has to create such different imaginative and creative things that exist around us. Not just enjoying the moment of a beautiful sunrise or even the soothing emotion the beach can bring to you, but really breathe in the amazing things He’s created. From even the simplest molecule known to man to even the vastness of the complexity of space.
Having being raised with a logistical and scientific background, i had never even took the time to just absorb the complexity of … science (i mean of course i understood how … difficult it could be at times, but i mean really understand that even God had created these things for us to study) or even be blessed with the different talents He has given me, especially in art.
Francis Chan does mention that there’s this thing that exists called spiritual amnesia and that “no matter how many fascinating details we learn about God’s creation, no matter how many pictures we see of His galaxies, and no matter how many sunsets we watch, we still forget.” That there will definitely be some moments when we wake up and just don’t want to worship and enjoy God’s presence – the real challenge is actually living it out and loving God to be natural. So he has some sections for reminders.
God is Holy:
Try to describe God and there will be a bajillion different types of explanations of who He is. “His perfect holiness, by definition, assures us that our words can’t contain Him. Isn’t it a comfort to worship a God we cannot exaggerate?”
God is Eternal:
What does it mean to be eternal? We each have a story with a beginning, middle and end. But with God, He exists out of time and has always been there before there was an Earth or even a universe.
“But you, Oh Lord, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations… But you remain the same, and your years will never end” Ps. 102:12-27.
How awesome is it that throughout the years, He is never changing and while we will meet our end eventually that His never does.
God is All-Knowing:
Francis Chan starts this section off with something that appealed to me, that “Each of us, to some degree, fool our friends and family about who we really are.” Sometimes we have the little white lies here and there and obviously there’s also withholding truth to cover up embarrassments or feelings or animosity between each other. But nothing is hidden from God. He knows us even before we were born. Our feelings. Conflicts. Stories.
“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” Hebrews 4:13. It’s great that even though He created so many awespiring things in existence, He still takes the time to know even the littlest details about us.
God is All-Powerful:
“For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him.” Col. 1:16.
“Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases him.” Psalm 115:3.
There will be many times in our lives where we always question. Why am i short? Why can’t i have hair like that guy? Why are some people graduating with jobs and the majority suffering from unemployment? As bad as this may sound, Francis Chan writes this well, “Because He’s God. He has more of a right to ask us why _____. As much as we want God to explain Himself to us, His creation, we are in no place to demand that He give an account to us.”
“All the people of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’” Daniel 4:35.
“Can you worship a God who isn’t obligated to explain His actions to you? Could it be arrogance that makes you think God owes you an explanation?” – This line of thinking has always lead me into thinking about entitlement and that there are some people who are more deserving of explanations than others or even deserving of rewards. This leads into the next section.
God is fair and just:
Sometimes it’s really hard to wrap my head around the idea of justice. There are definitely times when someone has wronged me in such an atrocious way and that their life is so much brighter than mine (even now, there are still some people who i think of where i don’t feel like they deserve what they have right now). But i have to step back and really see this in God’s eyes and that we can’t really compare what is fair with our own sense of balancing scales. If this happened, then nothing in the world would have a standard and no “true” justice would be served. With God, He sees all sins as equal and deserving of punishment. If we look back at all the applications, we are in no place to question His sense of punishment when we all sin equally in nature.
In the final section of the challenge, Francis Chan pulls from Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4 to describe the throne of God.
1 It was in the year King Uzziah died[a] that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2 Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They were calling out to each other,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!
The whole earth is filled with his glory!”
4 Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.
5 Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”
8 Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?”
I said, “Here I am. Send me.”
9 And he said, “Yes, go, and say to this people,
‘Listen carefully, but do not understand.
Watch closely, but learn nothing.’
10 Harden the hearts of these people.
Plug their ears and shut their eyes.
That way, they will not see with their eyes,
nor hear with their ears,
nor understand with their hearts
and turn to me for healing.”[b]
11 Then I said, “Lord, how long will this go on?”
And he replied,
“Until their towns are empty,
their houses are deserted,
and the whole country is a wasteland;
12 until the Lord has sent everyone away,
and the entire land of Israel lies deserted.
13 If even a tenth—a remnant—survive,
it will be invaded again and burned.
But as a terebinth or oak tree leaves a stump when it is cut down,
so Israel’s stump will be a holy seed.”
—-
1 Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.” 2 And instantly I was in the Spirit,[a] and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it. 3 The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones—like jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow. 4 Twenty-four thrones surrounded him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. And in front of the throne were seven torches with burning flames. This is the sevenfold Spirit[b] of God. 6 In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal.
In the center and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back. 7 The first of these living beings was like a lion; the second was like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. 8 Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty—
the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”
9 Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever), 10 the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say,
11 “You are worthy, O Lord our God,
to receive glory and honor and power.
For you created all things,
and they exist because you created what you pleased.”
—-
Each author has a different way of describing the throne of God. How can we not just not imagine how glorious God is with these in mind? I would never have pictured this ever in a million years and i’m a creative type too!?
So next time we sit down to pray, really just sit in silence and just listen to Him speak to us. Feel His glory surround us and just absorb how great creation really is. It’s so great to just love God for this even when I wake up and I just don’t really want to do anything. But i’m reminded every day for all that He’s done and that what i do isn’t for me, but for Him.
