What Do I Know of Holy?
My goal for this blog has always been to allow God to use me to share something about who He is. To encourage you, to hopefully make you laugh sometimes, and to connect you to a loving God who is among other things, holy.
Part of growing closer to God includes Bible studies, going to church and hearing sermons, and reading books about God. I’m a pretty good student. Give me an assignment and I’ll almost always come through. But being a good student isn't the same thing as being holy.
God has certainly blessed me with a desire to learn and enough time in my day to do it. He has blessed me with relationships I never would have had if I didn’t get the chance to do bible studies or go to church or read books.
On the flip side (because there’s always flip side), there is danger in being the kind of person who does all these things. All this Bible study can give us a skewed view of God. I fall into this trap. I sometimes think of God as "a smarter version of myself". (That's a phrase I've stolen from my husband, but it's so true.)
The other day I was making my bed and a song came on the radio. Have you ever heard, "What Do I Know Of Holy” by Addison Road?
Heres a YouTube link to hear this amazing song. Listen even if you know it.
Anyway, the song came on, and I stopped dead in my tracks. The opening goes like this:
“I made You promises a thousand times
I tried to hear from Heaven
But I talked the whole time
I think I made You too small
I never feared You at all No
If You touched my face would I know You?
Looked into my eyes could I behold You?”
Wow! That's completely me. That nagging feeling that I've underestimated the greatness of God is perfectly described in this song. My prayers are all talking and hardly any listening. I have made Him too small. God is just a smarter version of me? Seriously? If I were in a Greek play, I’d be in real danger of some sort of ugly, untimely death. Luckily for us we don’t serve Greek gods. But it’s still completely off base to think I know what God knows. Yes, I’m made in His image, but that doesn’t mean I know what He knows. God and I are completely different kinds of beings. I’m a flawed person. He’s the creator of the world.
The chorus goes like this,
“So what do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
So What do I know? What do I know of Holy?”
Bible study, sermons, and books shouldn’t lead us to think we know what God knows. If we really study the God of the Bible, it should underline just how much He’s not like us.
I have a tendency to approach God with a casualness. I got that from my desire to be close to Him. From an intimacy with my Father. But intimacy with God isn’t the same thing as casualness. There should be nothing casual or mundane about connecting with God.
This chorus helps me visualize the greatness of God. “Where have I even stood but the shore along Your ocean?” That’s perfect. It’s hard to stand on a beach and not be in awe of the creator. The vastness and depth of the ocean is a drop of water compared to the greatness of God. (And now you all want to go on vacation. Sorry, that wasn't my plan.)
So, what do I know of Holy? Not much. And that’s going to have to be the answer I have until I meet Him face to face. It’s like a foreign language I can study my whole life and never be fluent. That’s the holiness of God. Figuring it out shouldn't be the goal, the goal should be to never forget we can’t figure it out.
Blessings,
Shannon