Job said something after his encounter with God that has always stuck with me. He said, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You” (Job 42:5).
His statement immediately made me think of Jesus’ response to Philip when he said, “Show us the Father.” Jesus replied: “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?” (John 14:9). The obvious answer is yes. Sadly, it’s possible to have been a Christian a long time and still not fully know the Lord.
I said “sadly” because I know God wants His people to know Him in spirit and truth– more fully than before; an ever-increasing faith and relationship with Him. But I also realize there is so much to know and learn and see of God that I don’t think we’ll ever truly reach the end.
I was thinking about a prism. It appears to be one thing but when white light passes through it, a multitude of color comes out on the other side. Another word I could use is multi-faceted. It means to have many sides or many features. Neither of these words can do God justice, but they come close.
The truth is, there will always be more to see, more to know. Paul said, “And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along. Through followers of Jesus like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels” (Ephesians 3:8-10, MSG).
The inexhaustible riches.
This is a good way of saying what we cannot fully describe.
“My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:14-19, MSG).
The extravagant dimensions.
The multi-faceted love of God. I can say that I’ve experienced His love. As John said, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us… We have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:10,16). The more I meditate on His love, the more I see. And the more I see, the more I realize– there’s still more to see and know.
But how? How do we see Him more? In a world of many distractions, we have to stop and carve out precious time with God. Isn’t this what Jesus meant when He told Philip, “Have I been with all of you for so long a time, and do you not recognize and know Me yet?”
It’s possible to walk daily with God and still miss so much of what He has to say and show us. But I don’t see this as a negative. I choose to allow this truth to pull my heart to see Him more. It makes me want to pause. It makes me want to commune with God. I don’t just want to see Him, I want to see people and situations through His eyes. I want to reflect Him. I want to respond as He would respond.
I pray your heart is pricked to draw closer to God like mine is. His love is extravagant. “He does great things past finding out, Yes, wonders without number” (Job 9:10). “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out” (Romans 11:33)! I pray we will see Him more.
