Peering Through Murky Water (Part One)

We must approach Him. Because He is approachable, and He is God. But as we do approach Him, we need to realize two things.

One – We don’t know Him completely.

Two – We believe some things about Him that are just not true.

There is a lot more of Him to get to know personally as the One who made us and planned a way to save us. We also need to discard our incorrect beliefs for true truth about Him – no matter how hard they are to un-learn.

Our knowledge is incomplete and somewhat wrong – that creates the murkiness. But we have a God who knows that, and cares. The water in our own fish tank and the water beyond the glass – both are murky. Therefore, moving forward is tenuous at times. But not always. His desire is that you ‘Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you.’ James 4:8. A deeper heart connection of relational knowledge with Him can and will remedy the two issues. God can clear things up. Getting to know Him solves everything. That can seem like an impossible statement right now. You or someone you love may have COVID-19. You may have lost a loved one or a friend. You may have a different illness. You may be financially strapped. Life may seem unfair at the moment. Thoughts of suicide have come out of nowhere. Your heart may be breaking. It may feel like the enemy has demanded to ‘sift you’, as he demanded to have Peter to ‘sift him’. But Jesus said to Peter, ‘but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail’. Luke 22:32. Ask Him to pray that for you. If you are a follower of Jesus, my guess is He already has.

To have Him say ‘but I have prayed for you’, you must choose to open your arms to Him and have Him explain to us who He. You have that freedom to open your arms, open your heart. As followers, we must be looking intently at Him and listening closely to Him. As He said to Peter, He will say to us, ‘And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.’ Luke 22:33. Peter knew Christ personally. Peter was one of the first to get to know all three persons of the Trinity. God is Christ, and Christ is God. The Spirit is too, and will guide us to know all three of Them – to know Who They are. We cannot get to know Them simply by rote, ritual, or rigorous study. We have tried that. Those are not bad. They are just not enough. We must realize that the Bible, the written Word of God – that book – is the only book ever written, in the history of books ever written, that when you read that book, you can talk to the Author. But do we? The relational connection we have with God through what Christ did on the cross allows us the freedom to be open and honest with Him about what we neither know nor understand – as well as  what we do know, but may be false. We must be open to new relational information and relational correction about a relational God, ‘from’ our relational God. And not just with God our Father. But with Jesus our savior and the Holy Spirit our comforter and guide. “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” John 5:39-40. Jesus said that to the purveyors of murky water…the religious fog of their time.

God loves us deeply and wants us to know Him deeply. He has given us all we need in His word. We are the ones who miss it. We treat it as a text book. We create religious fog, murkiness, for ourselves and others. Don’t get me wrong. Don’t stop reading, studying, and developing good habits…but they should drive you to Him, as a Person.

Now let me talk in first person. I have had a hard time doing this. Over the years I have gotten better. But when I am confronted with scripture which I know is true, and that scripture does not set well with a deeply held belief I have, I must talk to Him openly and freely and ask Him to guide me to understand Him. To get to know Him. Not just to know His truth, but more importantly to know Him as truth. I am fully His, but I do not treat Him as fully mine. I tend to be His child more than He is my God. He knew me completely before I knew the first thing about Him. He is always right, and will always guide me to right thinking and right action, all based on right theology…all based on Him as a person. The fact is, He wants my heart to be focused toward Him. Again there is the fact that He wants me to draw near to Him.  And I love Him for that.

Do you?