"You are resplendent with light, more majestic than mountains rich with game."
** Having just gotten back from Colorado and all week being tantalized once again by just the thought of seeing something wild, one of the most exciting things my mind can imagine would be to see herds of wild animals in their habitat.
Or even a solitary bear, a howling wolf.
300 parading elk.
Fields of caribou.
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| via Pinterest. Holy Moley. |
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| Wait, what?!! How did this picture get here?! Oh, that's right. |
(I know. These pictures are really excessive. Which is exactly why I picked them. : ) )
Or I think of the Amazon rainforests teeming with birds bedecked in colors so brilliant even my designer mind could never imagine.
In spite of my "general dismissal of animals" as one friend says, the thought alone thrills me.
Yet--this verse says--HE is more majestic. And I know this. Clearly the creation doesn't hold a candle to the Creator.
That being said, though, while I claim to believe it, does my life show it?
Because isn't majesty supposed to---well----thrill?
I mean, what THRILLS me more?
I remember when I was preparing for my first trip to Europe. 16 years old. 3 weeks on the continent. And the thought alone of going to Paris, Venice, Switzerland--it thrilled me. I remember literally squealing. Like a school girl.
And even at 16 I was no squealing school girl.
But I was just so elated to finally see these places I had read about and seen on travel shows my whole life.
Now? The novelty has worn off a bit.
I mean, I still love to go to Europe, but I'm a little bit like Been-There-Done-That-I-Just-Want-To-Stay-Home.
Now.....Africa...on the other hand...
That thought still makes me squeal.
And I am still no squealer.
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| via Pinterest. But this is totally me. In spite of the general blond-ness to this woman's lovely locks. |
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| via Pinterest. Not a single doubt in my mind this would happen to me. |
The thought of a safari--all those animals, all those Jeeps, all that khaki I would have to wear, all that blasted heat, all the potentially fatal danger; thrilled and deliciously terrified.
I.E. I am squealing.
Or Alaska and the thought of all those wild, brute beasts.
Thrilled.
Absolutely thrilled.
As in I feel like my heart might explode out of my chest just thinking about it.
Yet.
Yet.
"MORE majestic than mountains rich with game."
Sigh (not squeal).
I think this verse puts me in my place because--is it possible--does the tantalizing thought of a mountain or plain rich with game thrill me more than---He does?
Have I fallen into this dark cavity of thinking that when it comes to God it's kind of like Been-There-Done-That-The-Shiny-Ness-Has-Worn-Off?
Do I feel the same way about the Lord sometimes as I do about---Europe?
And ok, let's take it down a step further. So maybe you have never been to Europe.
How about the grocery store?
When was the last time you walked in and got giddy?
Thrilled?
Maybe some of you say "Never."
Ha!
But why?!
Why are we not THRILLED?
A building FULL of FOOD you didn't have to slave away to grow or produce.
Feasts beyond anything you can imagine can be produced by the contents of your supermarket. Flavors that would dance upon your palette better than any Russian ballet.
Yet.
It doesn't thrill us.
As "rich with game" as it is.
So how about these terms?
Do we treat God like we do the grocery store?
Obviously our theology would say "No."
But, and here is a horse-pill to swallow: Your life IS your theology.
People act upon what they believe.
Period.
Why do I thrill over the thought of mountains and plains teeming with animals? Because I believe it would be one of the most moving, awe-inspiring moments of my life.
I have planned a lot of weddings in my day. And why are they always so excited?
Because they believe that it is going to be the most magical day of their life.
What we believe about something is what thrills us about something.
So then, if I can sometimes feel the same way about God as I do about Europe or the grocery store, what belief in me needs to change so that the thought of God thrills me like the thought of Africa or Alaska?
Probably the same belief I have about Europe and the grocery store.
The belief that I have seen it all.
Oh my.
How small must my God be in my mind?
Is he small enough to me that I successfully objectified him? Have I wrongfully believed that all of him CAN be seen or accessed or experienced in this lifetime?
I fear it's the process of the finite trying to wrap her brain around the Infinite.
Wrapping her brain around it rather than experiencing the Infinite everyday and saying "It's ok that he is bigger than your comprehension."
It doesn't mean I am lacking in ability to know Him, to experience Him, it simply means there is more of Him. That's why wrapping my brain around him is futile from the start.
I need to believe THAT, Wolfies. Approach the Infinite everyday and say to myself, "You haven't even begun to see."
There is always more to him.
Contrary to what I sometimes feel and believe, He is not Europe. OR the grocery store. He is even more majestic than Africa and Alaska and mountains rich with game. He is the thrill. The tantalizing One. The one who prepares feasts (Psalm 23). Wild, the last frontier, Infinite, deliciously terrifying in his power.
The squeal-worthy God who created all those mountains, beasts, plains, and says, "Oh honey. You haven't even begun to see."
Thrill at that, babies. Thrill at that.
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