"But who made God?" I must have been not more than 8 years old when I asked my mom.
"Nobody made God," she said, "He always was and always will be."
"But before that?" I persisted. "I mean, before all the things God did... who made God?"
She shook her head and gave me a long explanation, which didn't make any more sense to me than her 1st answer. After she walked away, I thought, "She doesn't know either."
At age 8 it seemed impossible for something not to have a beginning. "There had to be a place to start," I mumbled to myself, "even if it was a long, long, long time ago."
In high school, one of my scientifically minded friends tried to explain it to me. He threw in a lot of scientific verbiage about the relativity of time, that it was circular and not linear, but I was as confused at age 15 as I had been at 8.
Now, 7 years later, I know for a fact that God is, was, and always will be. I accept this as the final word.
I've never found a satisfactory solution to understanding the eternity of God and I assume I never will. A friend once said, "You know, we're created beings. Everything in our world is created from something else. I had a dad who had a dad who had a dad. I can't understand anything about humans or animals or plants except to look for what they came from. But God is above and beyond creation. And we can't understand something that's beyond the created world we live in."
I agreed with him, but it didn't stop me from asking and trying to understand. I still believe in trying to make sense of the mysteries of the universe. Yet I also realize how this works for me in daily, practical living. I want explanations. I want to understand. "God, make it clear" is something I've often prayed. The phrase "I just don't understand" is such a habitual part of my prayer life, it wouldn't seem natural to pray about difficulties without using it.
In hundreds of ways, I don't understand what God is doing in my life or in anyone else's. But one day I realized that was precisely the problem: I put the emphasis on understanding.
The day that light crept in, I had just read the words of a wise bro in Christ, who contrasted our understanding with the act of our will. "Understanding," he said, "is of little benefit, but the commitment of our will is of immense value."
Then I got it. I would say it like this. I kept wanting to obey the Eternal One when I understood the divine plan. Instead, God wants me to commit my will even if I don't understand.
I found help in this matter recently when I came across a typed sheet of paper that someone gave me many years ago. I know only that it's called "Others May, You Cannot" by George Watson. Here is part of one paragraph:
...make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign and has a right to do as He pleases with His own. He may not explain to you a thousand things which puzzle your reason in His dealings with you, but if you absolutely sell yourself to be His love slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love and bestow upon you many blessings...
God has no obligation to explain anything to me. It's the matter of the creature trying to usurp the role of Creator to demand such explanations or understandings. I'm willing to let the Eternal One work out all the solutions to the problems of this time and the period beyond human time.
I'm also learning to be grateful that God is here with us now, reminding us who is the Eternal One. I don't have to understand the Eternal One, I need only commit myself.
For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who established it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited: "I am the Lord, and there is no other... I, the Lord, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right." Isaiah 45:18, 19B (NKJV)
Eternal and Everlasting God, I don't understand such terms as eternal and everlasting. How can I? My world is limited and temporal. Whether I understand isn't the issue, is it? Help me commit my will totally to You, especially when I don't understand what You're doing with my life or the lives of others around me. Amen!
"Nobody made God," she said, "He always was and always will be."
"But before that?" I persisted. "I mean, before all the things God did... who made God?"
She shook her head and gave me a long explanation, which didn't make any more sense to me than her 1st answer. After she walked away, I thought, "She doesn't know either."
At age 8 it seemed impossible for something not to have a beginning. "There had to be a place to start," I mumbled to myself, "even if it was a long, long, long time ago."
In high school, one of my scientifically minded friends tried to explain it to me. He threw in a lot of scientific verbiage about the relativity of time, that it was circular and not linear, but I was as confused at age 15 as I had been at 8.
Now, 7 years later, I know for a fact that God is, was, and always will be. I accept this as the final word.
I've never found a satisfactory solution to understanding the eternity of God and I assume I never will. A friend once said, "You know, we're created beings. Everything in our world is created from something else. I had a dad who had a dad who had a dad. I can't understand anything about humans or animals or plants except to look for what they came from. But God is above and beyond creation. And we can't understand something that's beyond the created world we live in."
I agreed with him, but it didn't stop me from asking and trying to understand. I still believe in trying to make sense of the mysteries of the universe. Yet I also realize how this works for me in daily, practical living. I want explanations. I want to understand. "God, make it clear" is something I've often prayed. The phrase "I just don't understand" is such a habitual part of my prayer life, it wouldn't seem natural to pray about difficulties without using it.
In hundreds of ways, I don't understand what God is doing in my life or in anyone else's. But one day I realized that was precisely the problem: I put the emphasis on understanding.
The day that light crept in, I had just read the words of a wise bro in Christ, who contrasted our understanding with the act of our will. "Understanding," he said, "is of little benefit, but the commitment of our will is of immense value."
Then I got it. I would say it like this. I kept wanting to obey the Eternal One when I understood the divine plan. Instead, God wants me to commit my will even if I don't understand.
I found help in this matter recently when I came across a typed sheet of paper that someone gave me many years ago. I know only that it's called "Others May, You Cannot" by George Watson. Here is part of one paragraph:
...make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign and has a right to do as He pleases with His own. He may not explain to you a thousand things which puzzle your reason in His dealings with you, but if you absolutely sell yourself to be His love slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love and bestow upon you many blessings...
God has no obligation to explain anything to me. It's the matter of the creature trying to usurp the role of Creator to demand such explanations or understandings. I'm willing to let the Eternal One work out all the solutions to the problems of this time and the period beyond human time.
I'm also learning to be grateful that God is here with us now, reminding us who is the Eternal One. I don't have to understand the Eternal One, I need only commit myself.
For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who established it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited: "I am the Lord, and there is no other... I, the Lord, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right." Isaiah 45:18, 19B (NKJV)
Eternal and Everlasting God, I don't understand such terms as eternal and everlasting. How can I? My world is limited and temporal. Whether I understand isn't the issue, is it? Help me commit my will totally to You, especially when I don't understand what You're doing with my life or the lives of others around me. Amen!
2 comments:
so who made God?
erm.. nobody? what i posted is de answer to that question... how come u're still asking? i'm perplexed... =S
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