“You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, And besides Me there is no savior.”
Isaiah 43: 10-11 (NKJV)
Scripture: Ecclesiastes 11: 1-88
It is difficult to understand who God is. How can we understand Someone we don’t see? With whom we can’t have face-to-face conversations? This devotion discusses some aspects of God that will help us to understand who He is.
How in the Sam Hill can we understand God? How can we figure out who He is? “…I am He …” (Is. 43: 10 NKJV)???? That “He” can be a little mind boggling sometimes.
We are the servants whom God has chosen. A servant is someone who does something for someone else. Let’s say I was employed as a personal assistant to someone. Some of my job responsibilities would be to do whatever my employer tells me to do. (There are always other duties as assigned!) It is part of my job to follow directions.
How my employer interacts with me may be different. Some employers may come across as the dictator type — his/her way or the highway. Others might be the absent-minded professor type — eternally grateful that I keep him/her on track.
God is a loving being type. He doesn’t really need us to accomplish His plans, but He knows that we will grow as we serve Him. Sometimes He does have to get our attention. Most of all, though, He wants to establish a relationship with us.
Once we have established that relationship, God can begin to teach us who He really is. We can know and believe the God who has always been and has no other gods before Him.
God teaches us through that relationship — gentle nudges by the Holy Spirit. He comes to us through His Word. If we make our prayer time a dialogue rather than a monologue, we can hear Him speaking to us that way.
Verse 10 says, “You are my witnesses …” (Is. 43: 10 NKJV). That means we also learn who God is by watching others. Kids watch their parents. Coworkers watch coworkers. Neighbors watch neighbors. God needs to be so much a part of us that He shines through.
No, we are not called to be God’s personal assistant. We are called to be His witnesses. He has provided the Savior that we need. He didn’t have to, but that was the only way to restore man’s relationship to Him.
The Bible also tells us that “… we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5: 20 NKJV). We may not understand how God created everything and why. We may not fathom how He sent His only Son to die for us. We may not see how Jesus would come and be killed to save us.
But we can know without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus did come. Jesus did die for us. He was the sacrifice needed to restore our relationship with God. He rose from the dead. He is alive right now in heaven, pointing at us, saying to God, “Those are mine.”
We will never fully understand who God and Jesus are until we hit those pearly gates. But He will provide us with what we need to know to put our faith and trust in Him and serve Him.
So, we learn about God through the variety of ways that He talks to us. The thankfulness that we have because He sent His Son to be our Savior and Redeemer should just bubble out of us, so others can plainly see. God will show us what we need to understand.
Father. You were God before creation. You will always reign as the one true Lord. At times, it is hard for us to understand Your love and Your mercy. Help us to keep learning of You so that we can praise You even more. Prepare us and send us as Your witnesses. There are many who need to know that You have sent Your Son to be our Savior. Let us be Your servants to do Your Kingdom work here on earth. Prepare us for heaven where we will forever worship You. Amen.
What do you think? What is the hardest thing to understand about God? Leave me a comment below or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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