Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Glory

You ever thought about the moment when you pass from this life and instantly you are in the presence of God.  Looking at examples of people who have seen a glimpse of Him: Isaiah falls to his face and says to God "I am undone" in other words I am not worthy.  He can't even lift his eyes.  Or what about Peter, John, and James when they follow Jesus up the mountain right before His transfiguration.  They respond in the same way....in fear.

Its a frightening thought think that these men who were devoted following God were not worthy of standing in the presence of God.  How would I be any more worthy than them?  I wouldn't.  I am often times reminded of an experience I had out in Seattle.  I being from Iowa have never seen anything close to a mountain until I went their.  Mount Rainier sits as the second highest peak in the continental U.S.  I didn't know this at the time.  I decided one afternoon that I would climb to the top.  Those who know of this mountain are probably laughing right now.  Some friends and I are climbing real fast as we only have like 5 hours.  So we are sprinting up this thing.  Eventually we get to snow and ice, and we start to notice that the people around us are no longer wearing tennis shoes like us, they are wearing spikes and have poles.  We are slipping every which way.  By the way, this whole time we can't see the peak because it covered by a cloud.  We keep saying, "we have to be getting close".  Suddenly, the clouds part for just a second to show a glimpse of the peak.  We weren't even close to the top.  At that point I never felt so small.  I had no idea how big this mountain was.  Looking back I think about that experience, and I think I bet this is what heaven will be like when we stand before God.  I can imagine my words now, "I never knew...."

So what to do with these thoughts and feelings? It reminds me that my God is more than an old bearded man in the clouds.  It reminds that my God is to be feared.  It reminds me that I am not worthy to be His follower. At the same time I know my God loves me.  Weighty stuff.....A.W. Tozer says, "What I believe about God is the most important thing about me"

1 comment:

  1. Hey buddy,
    Good stuff! That must have been an amazing experience. I love it when I feel little. Sometimes we think we are soooo important don't we. Sometimes we think we are so advanced and far into God... but our "far-ness/pride" is our downfall. Humility says, "I know sooo little. I have soo much to learn. Other people have so much to offer me. I need..." I realized that I'm not as far as I think I am... there are so many out there that have probably gotten so close to the face of God... they've probably grazed it. I bet those people are homeless... you know, people you would never expect. Me... my ego puts me miles away from him.

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