Someone recommended that I do a study of the attributes of God, noting that when we really seek to find God, He reveals Himself to us.
So I chose to study The-God-Who-Will-Be-Found this week. That might not be a common attribute mentioned like Love or Righteousness, but believing in His desire to show Himself to us opens my heart to seeking… He is not a God Who Hides Himself from the sincere. He can be found.
As I started a list of those who found God in the Bible, I began to realize that finding God and being found by Him is the heart of God’s Word, repeated over and over in the Bible stories. And no one could seek God and find Him, but that God had been guiding their path all along, leading closer to the point of whole-hearted longing.
Hagar weeps alone in the wilderness. Before she had named God “the-God-who-Sees”; now she cries in anticipation of her son’s death. But God comforts, “fear not; for God hath heard…”
Israel cries out under the burden of Egypt for years. God finally speaks. “I have surely seen the affliction of my people… and have heard…”
Job questions God for chapter after chapter, bemoaning the fact that he cannot see God in the midst of the boils and family deaths and financial loss. But when God shows Himself, Job says, “I have heard of thee… but now mine eye seeth thee…” and it is enough.
David testified, “I… cried unto my God: he bowed the heavens also and came down…”
Cornelius prayed and offered himself to God in the best way he knew how, and God gave him the gift of Himself–the Holy Spirit dwelling within.
Paul asked, “Who are you, Lord?”
“I am Jesus,” our Lord replied.
Jesus. The one who lived among us, wore our skin, felt our pain… the God Who is closer than we can imagine. The God Who hears. The God Who sees. The God Who comes down to me. The God Who wants to accept what we give and answer our questions.
He wants to reveal Himself to us.
If I am silent in my anger,
Cursing God and claiming death
Instead of begging for His presence
With the breath I have left,
Will He speak from the whirlwind?
If I do not sit in mourning,
While the Saviour’s far away,
Crying hopeless for four days
But still waiting for his coming,
Can His coming bring life?
If I don’t bring offerings to His tomb,
Even to the cold and silent,
If I don’t stand outside alone
Weeping, crying, wondering why…
Can He appear and speak my name?
Dale Stoltzfus
2 Nov 2024Can He appear and speak my name? He already has! Even when I don’t hear Him. Is this your poetry, Alison? I love the way it expresses the struggles we as Christians sometimes face as we wait on the God who has revealed himself, but sometimes we wonder why we don’t perceive Him when we focus on our struggles, our grief, our “waves.” Keep writing!
Alison
2 Nov 2024I wrote this, yes, but I thought it might need refined a bit before it could be called poetry… 😉 It’s a reference to the stories of Job, Lazarus’s sisters, and Mary Magdalene.
Monica
2 Nov 2024My thoughts seem disjointed and scattered so I won’t try to lay them out here but thank you! Poetry or not this piece resonates with me this morning.
Alison
2 Nov 2024You’re welcome! ❤️