Chapter 1: "Stop Praying"
>> Monday, March 22, 2010
OK, Ladies...So, what do you think about "Crazy Love" so far? One of the first things that Chan points out..." For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse," Romans 1:20. Chan writes about some things in creation that you have have known already, and others that may be new information. What about God's creation reminds you of his wonder, power and creativity? What about His amazing creation puts you in awe?
Chan also discusses our tendencies to have "spiritual amnesia". We are all guilty of it. We are surrounded by all of His breathtaking creation....we are PART OF His breathtaking creation...but yet, we still forget. Did Father use anything out of this book to remind you that He is the great "I AM"? That we are to worship him daily, with our lives, and to fear and respect Him? If so, what? Share your tendencies and experiences if you feel led.
We read about what God Himself is like, what the scriptures tell us He is like. God is holy. God is eternal. He is all-knowing and all-powerful, He is fair and just. Share with the others what jumped out at you, what is Father speaking to you about who He is and what He is truly like?
4 comments:
I, for one, am so excited about what God has planned for us in this book! I must say that I am a little obsessed with caterpillars right now. My sister gave the boys a butterfly home for Christmas and the timing is unbelievable. We have caterpillars sitting on my desk as I type, forming their little chrysalides...dangling by a thread. I can't stop staring at them now that I know they have 228 different muscles in their heads! Just to top it off, Pastor Scott went into detail about what is actually happening inside as they transform. It is such an amazing and miraculous transformation...and they are just sitting there on my desk as I type! TEN OF THEM! God took such care and time with that creation, the intricate detail of every aspect, but yet created billions of galexies that we don't even know about!
I have always been facinated by Father's creation, but I too get busy with life and forget. We all do it. I am learning to take the time to stop and look at the tiny little details, and while doing so, standing in awe of the majesty of our Father! He shows me things and teaches me with His creation...if He has taken the time to purposefully place 228 muscles in the head of a caterpillar, and in forming the 6 MILLION leaves on a tree, how much care did He take in creating you and I? He didn't send his son to die on the cross and rise again for a caterpillar!!
The part in the book where Chan is discussing God being eternal...that actually made me feel a lot better. Just the day before our 4 year old had asked me "Mommy, who made God?" When I explained that no one did, it was of course followed by more questions...."Did He make himself? When was He made? How was He made? How can He always exist?" As I struggled to answer in a way that a 4 year old can comprehend, I realized that I couldn't quite get my own mind around it....and yet I am trying to expain it to a 4 year old. I finally talked to him about our faith in knowing that He has always been and that sometimes we can't completely understand somthing until we are in heaven, if even then. It frustrated me to not be able to comprehend it myself...to have always been. Our views are so narrow, but He knows all. He has always been. Chan wrote on pg 31, "...it is ridiculous for us to think we have the right to limit God to something we are capable of comprehending." At the same time, it brings me comfort that my God is THAT big, that he IS eternal.
Another section that really got me thinking is on page 33 where Chan wrote about how we often question God. I don't catch myself questioning Him as much as I sometimes find me knowing that he is in control, but wondering what the big plan is that I don't see. (I think that there is a difference there...hopefully you know where I am coming from.) It really hit me hard when Chan wrote that God could be asking US why there are so many people hungry and hurting. We truly are arrogant if we think that He should explain to US why there are people in slavery, people without food or clean water....you name it. OUCH!
I'm also very excited about this book and about "seeing" God through so many eyes. I love that God cannot be contained in my simple mind. That my thinking of Him is only a small portion of who he really is. When I read what others are writing and can see God through their eyes, I get an even bigger picture of an already big God.
I think everything in creation puts my in awe. The changing of the seasons and how everything associated with that happens amazes me. Feeling the warmth of the sun on my face, seeing a starlit sky and marveling at a full moon, watching the waves roll in and hearing them hit the beach, and the cry of a newborn baby all remind me of his creativity. The crack of thunder, the marvelous displays of lightning during a storm, the sound of the rain pouring over the earth, the sound of the violent wind as it is unleashed during a storm all remind me of his power. There really isn't anything in all creation that I don't marvel at and wonder how God could care so much for us to think about all the little details.
I am guilty of having spiritual amnesia all the time. I find that I can get so distracted during my day that I totally forget about him and don't stop to worship him in all I'm doing. My children will often times pull me back from the distractions with comments like "mommy can you hear the birds singing to God" or "mommy did you see that butterfly?" They are such a great reminder of how we are to worship him with daily with our lives. I love where Chan said that we don't get to decide to who God is. God said to Moses, "I am who I am" We don't change that. Something else Chan said that really convicted my heart was on pg. 33 when he wrote, "don't we live instead as though God is created for us, to do our bidding, to bless us, and to take care of our loved ones?" Wow! How many times in my life have I felt this way? Not actually said it out loud but lived my life as if I believe it. I was created for God not the other way around.
"He cannot be contained in this world, explained by our vocabulary, or grasped by our understanding." (pg. 35) This is so true and made me think of Kasey's example of trying to explain God to a four year old. He is incomprehensable. He is bigger than we can ever hope to imagine. We cannot exaggerate him (pg. 31). I just really feel like God has been trying to get me to let him out of the box. To really let go of who I think he is and let him be who he really is.
We are only one chapter into this book and already God has gotten my attention! "Spiritual amnesia" is an all too familiar thing that happens to me. As I type this, is not God the one who is giving me each breath that I breathe and the ability to type??? His glory is all around but yet I stare at it all as if it is nothing amazing. Having a three year old really helps me to sit back and to see all of God's glorious creation. Everyday is a new discovery for my precious angel and something so simple like the caterpillar but yet as Chan explains even the caterpillar is not so simple..."228 separate and distinct muscles in its head?". WOW!
When Chan started explaining all of the different characteristics of God, my heart was convicted and reminded that God is truly "ALL knowing". He knows the sitution I am in right now and He knows how I am gonna react or not react to what I am going through. I maybe able to fool you or even my family but I can not fool God. "We can not escape Him, not even if we want to."(pg. 32) We are so special to Him that he takes the time to know every little detail about our lives. He has not forgotten me and He will move in my life in His own timing because like God said to Moses "I am, who I am." God is so confident in Himself, if only I could daily make the commitment to be confident that He is my God and He is still on the throne. The wonderful and breathtaking throne of grace! How I long to be more in Love with our holy, eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, fair, and just God.
I already love this book!
We truly are arrogant. We are more in awe of our own creations than we are of God's. Honestly, we are in awe of iPhones, netbooks, laptops, the latest 3D technology; but we sometimes (or often times) don't give a fleeting thought to God's creation. Which I might add is much more fascinating than any of his creation's creations.
What reminds me most of God's wonder, power, and creativity and puts me in awe is how much his creation varies. Comparing his smallest creations to his biggest ones.
Since I can't really wrap my head around "big" and "small" I love to look at numbers and ratios. For instance, Mycoplasma genitalium is the smallest known organism capable of independent growth and reproduction. It is 0.3 micrometers (a micrometer is one millionth of a meter or one thousandth of a millimeter). Compare that to the largest known living animal, the Blue whale. The record length and height being 110 ft 2 in and 190 tons, which if I'm not mistaken is 380,000 lbs! I found something that said a blue whale's heart weighs about 1,000 lbs and a human could crawl through it's aorta! AMAZING!
Then there is the fact that you can fit 1 million earths inside the sun. The largest known star in the Milky Way Galaxy is VY Canis Majoris. It would take over 7,000,000,000,000,000 or 7 quadrillion Earths to fill the volume of VY Canis Majoris. I can't wrap my head around 1 million...much less a quadrillion. And yeah, that's just our galaxy. There are only a few hundreds of billions of galaxies in our universe...
We cannot even begin to wrap our heads around our God's creation. A creation that he breathed and spoke into being! Much less will we ever be able to comprehend God...yet, he knows the number of hairs on each of our heads.
Luke 12:7
"Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."
I'm also reminded of him in sunrises, sunsets, rainbows, laughter, the smell of rain or freshly cut grass, the taste of strawberries; And I am so grateful for all the different ways he allows us to experience his creation! We can see it, we can hear it, we can touch it, we can smell it, we can even taste it!
My favorite part of the chapter was when Chan said "God exists outside of time, and since we are within time, there is no way we will ever totally grasp that concept". Do you know what else stands outside of time? Eternity. =)
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