Finding the God of the Bible

“The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands.” Psalm 19:1

The sun is shining and the result is glistening snow that is a spectacular display of light. I spent my early morning hours in the quiet, attempting to focus on some of those attributes of God that I am most thankful for. The thing is, the more I think about who He is and what He has done, the more I realize just how amazing it is–that the God of the universe has so beautifully designed every single detail of this world that I was born into.

From the uniqueness of each snowflake to the intricacies of the human body, I am in awe of God who is even more than a creator–He is an artist.

Even though we can see through our eyes the yet unfinished canvas He is still working on, there is one aspect of his creation that is complete. The Bible. Carefully written and preserved over thousands of years, we have been given a priceless gift. More exquisite than a mere painting, and more eloquent than a seasoned author, God’s Word is a story woven together into a complex tapestry. Every event connected to the next and woven into the fabric of time.

I am not so young anymore, and so hindsight is my constant companion. I know now what I could have never seen or understood as an inexperienced youth or as a new believer. So much of what I have learned in my journey of faith has come because of this ever-developing ability to see things with a perspective of time and experience. Reading the Bible and learning about who God is and how He has been at work in our world is one thing–experiencing it for myself is quite another.

Let me explain.

When my father was in his last days, I had a one-sided conversation with him about his relationship with God. His was a strained relationship because the God that my father knew was only in what he would call “a story”. The stories he had heard as a child and as a young man were from the Bible and were accepted by him as a reality–until life brought disappointment.

His faith was faint. While he might say that he did believe there was a God, he had long ago quit trusting in the God of the Bible. Feelings of pain, heartache and grief had weighed him down so much that he failed to see–and trust in the goodness of a God who, in his mind, had let him down. The veil of disappointment that fell over my father’s eyes blurred his ability to see the truth–that He sees, He cares, and He Himself

The Bible is a book that one might tend to pick up and read only tidbits at a time. Some will pick and choose the verses that they like–even to the point of choosing which ones they want to believe. There are many books in this collection of 66 books that are much easier to read and to understand, while others seem more complicated and confusing. The truth is, one can never fully grasp all that is intended even in a lifetime of study, so the question that you might ask is, “does that make the effort futile?”

I don’t believe so. From the beginning of creation in Genesis, to the final culmination of human history in the book of Revelation, we are given all that we need to know about God. He wisely chose to give us a written compilation of His plan–starting with day number one, and in every page after. These words can, if we let them, lead us to knowing Him in a personal way. Like letters a father might write to his children who would read them after he’s gone.

On that particular day, a day I will never forget, I sat beside my father’s bedside with tears in my eyes. Though the tinges of gray in my hair revealed the truth, in my mind–and perhaps in his–I was his little girl again, begging him to turn his heart back toward the God of the Bible. The One who loved him more than I did, this loving Heavenly Father that I knew Him to be–was also the One who had pursued my earthly father far more times than I could count.

Finding God is not hard. He created you and He knows you better than you know yourself. He loves you–and He demonstrated His love for you on the cross. Why? Why did He die? Because God is holy and we are not. We cannot come into the presence of a Holy God, so He made a way. He asks us to turn away from sin and turn to Him. I have not yet met a person who would deny that they are a sinner. (I know they are out there.) The truth is, we all mess up–and God, knowing that we would, still gave us the freedom to choose. But He didn’t leave us to carry the burden of sin alone. He took that burden and nailed it to a cross. Jesus rescued us by sacrificing Himself on our behalf.

Finding God is not hard.

What might seem to be hard is choosing to trust Him enough to put your life into His hands. To surrender to His will for your life. Sometimes life does gets hard. Bad things happen in this world, and God doesn’t exempt us from the hard. But He DOES go with us through the hard. He can give you peace and hope and comfort when life kicks you in the gut. He can and will walk beside you and get you through.

Because he has his heart set on me,
I will deliver him;
I will protect him because he knows my name.
When he calls out to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble.
I will rescue him and give him honor.
I will satisfy him with a long life
and show him my salvation. Psalm 91:14-16

You see, my father’s choice to get angry at God for the hard things he went through had hardened his heart. It affected his attitude, his actions and even the heritage he left behind. Unfortunately, his journey was not an uncommon one. I’ve had to face the hard in this life and so will you. I’ve watched others face death, disability, heartache and pain and inevitably it leads in one of two directions: a turning toward God or turning away from Him. After decades of watching and experiencing the results of these two choices, it is overwhelmingly obvious that choosing to trust God, even in the hard, is the only hope we have for a life that has meaning and purpose. God is all-knowing and all-powerful, yes, but He is also ever-present and Sovereign. We can’t always see on this side of eternity what His plan is, but because He is a loving, compassionate and holy God, we can trust Him. It’s a choice. Just as you are the only one who can decide your attitude for the day, you are the only one that can choose to have a heart that trusts in the one true God.

Please consider trusting Him today. Today is all you have, and the choice to follow the God of the Bible will be the best decision you could ever make.

WANT TO KNOW MORE? Go to the page titled “FAITH” here.