Here is one of my ideas about God. I view my relationship with God in many ways - One way is like going into a museum to view beautiful works of art. The art is like all the goodness of God - His beauty, majesty, etc. This is His revelation of Himself to me. As I view the art I gain a greater appreciation and awe of God and His goodness in my life. As I come to understand this room, the walls fall down and I am in a bigger room with even more art to behold. If God brought me into the full room of His glory at once I could not take it in. But bit by bit, He grows my understanding of Him as I gain in wonder. Sometimes Satan, the world or my flesh come in and blur the pictures, or cloud my vision. Worship is my response of awe at God's goodness - the artwork. Then God brings me into a room where I am one of the paintings. I am His workmanship to in turn show others the goodness of God. God is the object of my tour of wonder but He is also a companion that travels with me and helps me appreciate the strokes of the artist or the carving of the sculpture. We can laugh, cry, or just stand in silence. I always have Him by me to help me understand, instruct me, and comfort me. When I don't understand a painting and ask Him about it sometimes He answers in detail and sometimes He lets me think it over for a time. In a sense we travel through the museum individually but also as a group (family, friends, church family, community). The other members of the tour bring a fuller sense of meaning to the pieces of art. As I move from one room to another, I don't have 100% understanding of any of the artwork. There is just so much to it that I have a partial understanding like looking into a mirror dimly. Some day I will be with God face to face and know Him fully even as I am fully known.
The art is not just something to look at. It is interactive and participatory. One of the pieces of art I have been gazing at recently is service - serving others and allowing God to serve me. It is very active. All action finds its origin in the nature of God - love, truth, just, merciful . . .
To some this may sound stagnant and boring if museums are not their thing. Maybe others would view God in more of an adventure metaphor or some other avenue. What do you think ? What paintings have you been gazing upon?
2 comments:
I love the analogy of the museum. I especially liked the room where your life is a painting that God shows to others. I love art and wish I knew more about it. Thank you for the reminder of how God reveals himself in many different ways.
This is great Peggy, so true and real on so many different levels. My most recent painting that I've been slowly interpreting is Love. Love in the sense of creating a new type of relationship with God, one that both reflects a worldly view of love as well as a heavenly view. This also is helping me understand the even greater picture which is transferring that love and understanding into those around me.
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