At its core, resting in and thinking rightly about God starts with knowing His character. But how do we know God's character since He is incomprehensible, inscrutable and immeasurable? Firstly, we get to know His character by reading and studying His Word. And because how we think is sometimes largely impacted by our upbringing, to a much smaller extent we can get to know God's character through the people, places and things placed in our lives with which we have experiences [good or bad] --> what I like to call bridges. Keep in mind that bridges cannot negate, diminish or erase God's character.
Now being part of God’s family, means that we will and should have some of His traits because we are made in His image, but it will be to a lesser, finite degree. Allow me to introduce a couple of terms that describe God’s traits as they relate to humanity and which we will talk about over the next few weeks. These two words are Incommunicable and Communicable. Incommunicable means these are traits that God alone possesses; for instance, only God is Sovereign [complete authoritative Ruler over all], Omniscient [all-knowing], Omnipotent [all-powerful] and Omnipresent [always present everywhere at the same time]. While communicable traits are traits that God shares with us, but in a finite, human capacity [key word being human, not Divine]; for example, He gives us wisdom & knowledge, human ability & power, the ability to be present in one place, at one time and the ability to love [but not be and exhibit perfect love like Him]. Today in briefly examining a passage of how God protects, we will highlight God's incommunicable trait of omnipresence and look at a bridge that showed me as a child how He shared the communicable trait of being present.
Again, omnipresent means that God is present everywhere at the same time, always. He does not share this trait with anyone. Why? Because only God can be in all places at all times everywhere at the same time [mind boggling, right?]. And because He is omnipresent, He is always protecting His children. Does this mean Christians won’t experience trials, tribulations and difficulties? No, it does not. In fact, Scripture tells us that we will experience these things, but God will protect us through it all and sovereignly [there’s that word again] work it out for His glory and for our good.
"For the Lord’s portion is His people, Jacob His allotted inheritance. In a desert land He found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; He guarded him as the apple of His eye,... ~~Deuteronomy 32:9-10 NIV
I love to read Deuteronomy 32 [especially verses 9-14] to witness a beautiful example of a present Father God protecting His children. We see an omnipresent God encouraging His recalcitrant children, the nation of Israel, of how much He loves and will protect them. To be recalcitrant is to be reluctant, slow to act and basically pouty and disobedient. I bet that sounds familiar to a lot of you parents, huh? But because He is God, He repeatedly forgave and is saying here that He will continue to faithfully forgive, guide, bless, love and protect them as part of the original Covenant He made with Abraham. It is displayed here as a poetic song called “The Song of Moses” and delivered by Moses prior to his death on Mount Nebo [I encourage you to read the entire chapter].
Teachers [and God] know that teaching students songs and poems is a great way to get them to memorize and internalize content and be more likely to apply it. Remember the songs we were taught as children about tying our shoes, eating our vegetables, potty training or washing our hands? Same concept but with a Divine origin and purpose to get His Word and promises internalized in the hearts of His children. But the most beautiful and striking part of the passage is that during all of this God will be with and keep His children as the apple of His eye. Of all the bodily organs that God has given to us, the eye is the most exquisitely tender and sensitive. Even the tiniest particle of dust will irritate and distress its delicate fibers. Yet, it is the most preciously provided for and defended by the guards that God has placed around it, by being sensitive and quick to the perception of danger. So, this is the figure that God makes use of in order to present His watchful guardianship over His precious saints on what was to be a circuitous and difficult journey. And nothing can exceed the force and delicacy of this expression depicting God's presence in the protection and welfare of His people; guarded as His very own eye.
So, God is omnipresent and that is incommunicable and therefore not shared with anyone else. But remember He does share traits with us in a communicable fashion --> a lesser and finite human form. For me that was often displayed through what I like to call bridges. And as a child, my parents were often that bridge. If you read my "About" section, you already know I'm a daddy's girl [spoiled "sweet" says my momma]. Even following a lengthy commute after working the overnight shift, when daddy walked me to and from school, we would chat and laugh and catch up on all the gist. The ever-eager student, I would be running and pulling on his arm, attempting to make my languidly strolling, bowlegged daddy move at my pace, afraid class would start without me, and I would miss something. He would tug my hand right back and say "Quahana, slow down. They are not going to start without you." Yet inevitably he would break into a faster pace, staying close, lest I wander into danger or possibly stumble. In any event, that signaled to me that he was there to catch me --> he was present --> and thereby protecting me.
We always expect God to be in the miraculous fireworks, but sometimes He is in the small “everydays” of life, like morning walks to school with daddy. As an adult remembering my late daddy, I can't express how precious that was and is to me to know he was protecting me because he was present. And as an adult, rejoicing in my Heavenly Father I cannot articulate how safe I feel knowing God is protecting me because He is present, not just on my morning cardio walks but EVERYWHERE, ALL THE TIME. And the funny thing is that while God shares communicable traits with us to a finite human degree and as followers of Christ we should look like Him, our imperfections [including mine and daddy's] make His perfection all the more apparent. God has clearly made Himself available to us all as a present, protective and perfect Father. And that perfection GOD DOES NOT SHARE WITH ANYONE!!! And we can rest in that.
Takeaways for you to remember:
#1. Incommunicable – Only God has and can possess these traits.
#2. Communicable – Traits shared with us in finite, human amounts.
#3. Omnipresent - God always present everywhere at the same time.
Yours in Christ!
Dr. Quahana
Want to enjoy some of the Scriptures inspiring this entry? [NLT unless otherwise noted]
References:
1) Enns, Paul. The Moody Handbook of Theology. Moody Press. Chicago. 1989.
2) Erickson, Millard. Who’s Tampering with the Trinity? An Assessment of the Subordination Debate. Kregel. Grand Rapids, MI. 2009.
3) Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd ed. Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2003.
4) Packer, J.I. Knowing God. Intervarsity Press IVP Books. Downers Grove, IL. 1973.
5) Strong, J. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Abingdon Press. 1890.
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