Picture God

Can you picture something you’ve never seen? 

Would it be possible to describe the Statue of Liberty to someone and have him or her see a pretty good rendering in his or her mind’s eye? 

I think so.

I mean, they might have a few things wrong.  It might depend also on the accuracy of the description.  Is the height similar to a building you can see?  Did the one describing it adequately relate the color tones?  If they simply said it was a woman, did the one picturing the statue picture their mom’s face?  That is probably the most difficult: accurately getting someone to picture the face of someone they’ve never seen.  Size of nose and spread of eyes only go so far in visualizing the nuances of cheekbones and chin structure. 

Can I picture God?

Well, since He is invisible, probably not.  We don’t even really know what he looked like in his incarnate form as Jesus.  Almost everyone pictures a good-looking man with a beard and flowing hair when in reality, he may not have had a beard at all. (Mind blown!)

Although I will be thrilled to one day look into the eyes of the incarnate God, I think the most important part of Jesus can be adequately imagined: pierced hands, body beaten, bleeding brow. 

We may not have an accurate image of Christ in our heads, but God the Father has gone to great lengths to describe Himself to us.

Rock

River

Fountain

Light

Shade

Wings

Breath

Wind

Fortress

Fire

These vivid images give us a glimpse into the indescribable God.  He is everything we need. 

Are you feeling attacked?  God is our fortress.  Can you picture the strength of an impenetrable fortress?—The thickness of the walls!  The depth of protection!

Or perhaps you are feeling weighed down, defeated, burdened—God lifts us up on wings like an eagle! 

Is your heart soiled with sin?  Come to the cleansing waters of the river of God.

Feeling insecure?  God is a rock.  Solid, steady, REAL.

Feeling like God is far away?  Actually, He’s powerfully surrounding us like the wind and as close as your own breath.

Feeling scared of the dark?  God is light.

Feeling scorched by the world?  God is our shade.

Feeling thirsty?  God is living water flowing like a beautiful fountain.

Is your heart calloused or full of junk?  Or perhaps you are feeling unmotivated.  God is a fire—consuming fire!

These are just a few of the images God uses to display Himself and his character.  Another great one is shepherd.  When I visited the English countryside several years ago, I had the privilege of taking tea with a local sheep farmer.  After tea, he asked if my friends and I would like to go “lambing.”  “What is that?”  I asked.  Well, as it turns out, it’s simply going to check on the new lambs that had just been born.  So, we piled into a small vehicle (I can’t remember if it was motorized or horse-drawn).  We headed out over acres of land.   But this farmer—a shepherd—knew where he was going.  These little lambs had just been born the day before or something and he knew exactly where mother and babies were in that vast landscape of hills and forest.  We got out and walked right up to the sweet little creatures.  I had never seen anything like it.  But the farmer had seen countless lambs born on his farm, and yet, his eyes glistened with love for these little creatures.  There is a reason God chooses to describe himself as shepherd—not only do shepherds guide and protect, they love.

God longs for us to know Him.  So, He reveals Himself with words in the Bible, but so many of those words are actually images found all around us.  Yet, even as these pictures of God calm our hearts and bring us peace, we will not be able to stand when faced with the actual presence of the everlasting God.  The amazing thing is that even in our awe and terror, we will know in our hearts that He is good.  Even with our faces to the ground, we will feel loved to our very core forever.

Can you picture it?

2 Chronicles 7:1-3

Now when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house. 2 The priests could not enter into the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. 3 All the sons of Israel, seeing the fire come down and the glory of the Lord upon the house, bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave praise to the Lord, saying, “Truly He is good, truly His lovingkindness is everlasting.”