What a beautiful mystery life on Earth is! Who can know the sum of God's thoughts or what inspired Him to create such beauty, all in the name of love? I ponder these questions in my heart, though I know full well that I'll never truly comprehend their answers as long as I have breath.
As I sit upon the infamous ocean cliffs that, years ago, connected me to all the things I love most about the artist who created them (the crashing waves, the smell of salty air, the breeze blowing through my hair...), I'm reminded that this beautiful scenery is not only a gift from my Savior, but a self-portrait of Him. All these sights that energize me and make my heart leap for joy are merely a glimpse... a reflection of God's beauty, manifested in physical form.
So often we struggle with a God who seems intangible and distant to us. We long for His physical embrace; stroking our hair, caressing our cheek, and His hand holding ours as we struggle through life in a fallen world. But how many of us take the time to pause during our busy day and notice that these tangible desires are not absent from our relationship with Him? Can you imagine a triune and omnipresent God, who knows the precise count of hairs on our head, and yet is incapable or unwilling to fulfill the physical needs He created us with? God has not created us with a single need that He alone cannot fulfill. Though it's true that He often uses creation or other people to overflow our vats, there is not a single thing that we truly NEED that He can't fulfill.
Admittedly, all these thoughts beg the question: "Why, then, do we find ourselves longing for these God-created needs, only to conclude that, when all of our prayers and energies have been exhausted, God still doesn't reach down from Heaven and embrace us?"
The question "why?" is, without a doubt, one of the main things that keeps people from accepting Salvation. "Why does God allow pain and suffering?" "Why do bad things happen to 'good' people?" "Why doesn't God hear my prayers and heal my dying child?" Though these questions are heartfelt and genuine, the answers are not a secret... we usually just don't want to accept them. We may never fully understand the "why?", but we do know "how" it all came to be. Pain and suffering occur because we live in a sinful, fallen world. As long as we are still waiting for Christ to return, we will have to endure hardship and suffering.
In all of our questioning, there is one thing important to know: The Lord does not keep His touch from us. He sends us a breeze, rainfall, falling snow... and let us not forget those Spirit-filled "chills" we experience when our hearts are fully surrendered to Him and we know that He's about to do something great in us. We may not have the pleasure of God's full embrace until we spend Eternity with Him, but we must realize that He is still near and longing to touch us.
I implore you to find that place that makes you feel close to God (the beach, a beautiful church, the mountains, solitude...) and spend time with Him there often, if not daily. Stop trying to find God's touch in the hurriedness and distractions of the day and take a few moments to get away to that secret place where He can hold you in His arms and give your blessed heart a little glimpse of Heaven.
All My Love,
Kelley White
