January 5th, 1986 I accepted that Jesus saved me. Milestones often inspire reflection. Wrapping my head let alone my soul around this is joyful as well as overwhelming. Do I write about the battles of cynicism witnessed or just the joys. The tragedies or the triumphs. The milestones or mess. Here’s how I’ve learned to see God over the decades.

…to the glory of God the Father.

The focal point of living the Christian life is the restoration and praise of God that comes in the future. That Christ’s humility to place us before his own comfort, to die once in our place for all our sin, though he was and is sinless. To be a finished and complete sacrifice, not a perpetual one given during mas. That we have direct access to God with no other mediator or priest except Christ. One day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. Because without Jesus, we wouldn’t have a relationship with the Father. God acted decisively in the fullness of time to redeem people.

… nothing can ever separate us from God’s love…

If hopeful restoration of the future is the focal point, God keeping his promises is the foundation, Jesus the cornerstone. As Christ fulfilled Scripture, he demonstrated his integrity. In showing up in human history, he proved the existence of God. In humble sacrifice he proved his love. In resurrection he proved his power. In ascending back to heaven he proved his patience. In giving John the Revelation of Christ, he showed that he will also be just. God proved his existence in Christ, the perfect representation of who the Father is because Christ and the Father are one. Because of Christ, we can trust the Scriptures that he, through the Spirit, gave to us. In studying those Scriptures your beliefs will be challenged. This is a big paragraph to say this: God’s love isn’t hidden, too often we don’t want to accept it. It’s that simple. The Bible is God revealing himself, pleading with humanity, and offering his love freely, sacrificially, and securely. Hence the most often repeated phrase in the Old Testament is not judgment, but his loving kindness endures forever.

…be still…

God is found and most glorified in the quiet, in nature. He is fine to dwell in tents. (I do wonder if the temple of Spirit is people because in a conversation between the Trinity the Spirit said, “Look, Father, you were confined to a brick building, Jesus, you to a body, I need some space.”) When it came to place of worship, a tent over a temple was fine. When Moses wanted to see God it wasn’t rushing storms, but the gentle whisper that God showed up. This is the beauty of God in that he wants to be known in the majesty of peace, not the fury of control. Maybe there is silence in heaven for a half hour before the breaking of the 7th seal because there God give us what we wanted, vengeance. “Vengeance is mine, I will repay says the Lord.” God will do that, because he is just. In the silence I think the weight of what’s about to happen we deserve too, but because of his grace are kept from the hour of testing. We think we want retribution, what we really need is peace. Stillness teaches us that.

Seek first…

When Jesus tells us to seek first, when Hebrews talks about diligently seeking, it’s because God can be found. He isn’t found in the spectacle, the large events, the concerts, the classrooms, or books. He shows up in the quiet moments when you hurt. The brief and almost missed comments in a hallway or car ride. The need met at the moment of panic and worry. The right verse in your Bible reading as if God re-arranged the Bible for you. The faithful old lady teaching a Sunday school class that shares with you the Gospel. The co-worker who just invites you to church. So a word of caution, in our deconstruction and cynical driven world regarding church: The program we call church that gathers together on a Sunday is not the problem. The problem is we miss God on the journey there. Faith in the hard moments, avoiding the quiet, blowing off the hallway moments. We miss him when we fail to recognize we are a mosaic of God’s goodness of imperfect people trying their best to help us be like Jesus. In training people to disciple others I often say the classroom is the excuse for those hallway moments to happen. In 40 years I can say, if you’re not seeking God on the way, you will likely miss him when you arrive.

You can’t steer a still ship

The great commission starts with going therefore. An expression of travel and journey. The program we call church was not meant to sustain but to share. A rest station on the journey. Of being with others who saw God’s glory throughout the week too. My favorite proverb is you can’t steer a still ship. If we want to see God’s glory we need to move. A rudder only works if water flows over it, and life is the same. God can only guide if you move forward by faith. We don’t know what the outcomes, dangers, or trials will be, but we do know we will see his glory in all of it. We don’t miss God because he’s not there. We miss him because we are not looking.

In 40 years I learned that God is not hidden or hard to accept. God is good, his loving kindness endures forever.