This has been an interesting campaign season for believers, hasn't it? Our choices are very difficult - who would have ever thought we'd be put in the box where our options are either Obama or a Mormon? I know it's the talk of Christian circles and I trust that most are coming to the conclusion that we are not voting in a religious system but are voting on some very basic moral beliefs that we have in common with a candidate. I mean, come on, truth be known - it is the rare candidate who is truly a follower of Jesus Christ - we don't reserve our votes for believers only or it could be decades before we vote again...
But I don't really want to blog on politics, per se. I want to talk a little about the convention and why it drew my mind towards God. As I watched the speakers, governors, videos, women, minorities and everyone else that was marched across that grand stage, it became very clear that the purpose of this convention was not only to present to America someone who had a different vision for the country and a track record to support it, but also to make the man more personal. Pundits have criticized Mr. Romney for being too plastic - not real enough for the people to relate to and grab hold of. From his wife to those who know him best, their job was to make Mr. Romney smaller, more tangible - more personable. So they made videos and spoke of his childhood, his dating years, what he was like as a father, what kind of boss he was - they even had a family tell their story of having Mr. Romney sit with them in the hospital at the bed of their sick fourteen-year-old daughter. All of this was to make him, not larger than life, but smaller, more real.
The thought was, the more you get to know Mitt, the smaller he will become. If the public can hear his story and relate to him as a husband, a father, a businessman, he'll seem more normal. And if he is smaller, he will be more loved, more understood and more respected because we can identify with him.
It is interesting to me how the opposite happens the more you get to know God. He never gets smaller. He never gets easier to understand or grasp hold of - the closer you look at the Creator of the universe, the greater He becomes.
Whether through a telescope or a microscope, when you magnify His creation your mind is blown. As I look at my precious little granddaughters and watch as they develop and grow, I don't think less of God as a designer. I don't say, "Wow, I could have done that - God's kind of like me." Nope, instead I shake my head in awe and wonder at how amazing the human body is - how intricate the systems are, right down to those tiny little eyelashes and fingernails that are so important in life.
Then there's the God of the Old Testament - study the law, read the prophets, watch Him move nations and reorganize the world powers. Nope, again, He's totally out of my league. His power, His command, His control and His immutable character are devastatingly humble. I don't know why we try to make God more understandable by trying to hold him up to our fallen humanistic standards and then get frustrated when we find He's outside of our understanding.
He's God and we're not.
We must never forget that.
Now step into the New Testament - this is the most personal record of God reaching through the heavens and identifying with man. Yes, Jesus putting on flesh made Him more tangible and visible, but smaller and more understandable? I don't think so - His incarnation, His sinless life, His substitutionary sacrifice, His resurrection and His ascension are mind-blowing, God-elevating, worship-inspiring, character-magnifications of an all-powerful, unchangeable, completely sovereign and awesome God.
In other words, the more you get to know God, the bigger He becomes.
And the crazy thing is that the bigger He becomes, the more personal your relationship with Him will be.
Totally upside down in comparison to what happens when you get to know humans better, don't you think...
Enough for today...have a great weekend, friends...
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