God

 Define God. Go ahead and give it a try. You can explain that He is Creator. That is not all that He is. You can further explain that He is Yahweh, I Am. He is so much more. You can point to His mighty acts in the Bible. He did and does so much more than is captured in the pages of the Bible. Defining God is impossible. He is greater than our minds can conceive. He is more powerful than we can fathom. He is more intelligent than we can imagine. 

You can pick out one attribute of God. We could focus on that one aspect. Sooner or later that would lead to another attribute. On and on it would go. He is infinite. We are finite. He is eternal. We are temporal. He is omniscient. We are ignorant. We do not know what will happen the next hour much less the next day, week, month, or year. God knows and sees it all like it is present tense. We age. God is ageless. He is faithful while we are unfaithful. He is compassionate while we find limits to our compassion. He is slow to anger while we are quick to lose our temper. He is gracious where we can be judgmental. He is loving when we are slow to love people who are different than us. He is everywhere while we can only be at one place at a time. On top of all that He is so much more. 

It is difficult to define God to people who do not know Him. Maybe that is why the Psalmist wrote in Ps 34:8, O taste and see that the LORD is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. He is someone to be experienced as much as He is soneonen to be explained. Taste and see. Try Him. Experience Him for yourself. 

I saw movies with mountains in the scenes for decades. I even read about some mountains in geography. None of that could compare to the first time I saw mountains in person. I got invited to preach a ski retreat in Aspen, Colorado. I was not good at skiing. I failed at it miserably. Right across from our hotel room was a long winding dirt road traversing up a mountain. I determined one day that while the others skied I was going up to the top of that mountain. 

I packed a backpack with water, a few snacks and dressed for the adventure. I crossed the two lane highway and started my trek upward. It did not take long for me to get winded. Up and up I walked. Going around one curve after another. Inching higher all the time. I walked up higher than all the houses. Eventually I got as high as I could go. What I discovered took my break away. I did not get to the top. What I saw was endless mountain ranges higher and more expansive as far as I could see. I felt so minuscule in the sight of such magnificence.  I just stood there soaking in the moment. Recalling the power of God to create such mountains with just a spoken word. It blew me away. I had to experience those mountains for myself. 

A person could study God in books written by the most brilliant theologians. It will not compare to really experiencing God for themselves. Like I did back in October of 1983 when I met Jesus as my Savior. He changed my life. I did not become perfect after that. I have sinned plenty and needed much forgiveness. I did find a real Savior who loved me and created me for His mission. A mission I delight to fulfill. 

God is more expansive than the mountains or the oceans. He is undefinable in all His essence. What a thrilling journey to walk with Him through this journey of life. What a great adventure He is. The exploration of Him will take more than a lifetime. It will take all of eternity.