Finding God





Job 23:3.---' Oh that I knew where I might find him.'

First of all, there is what we will call our physical senses. Through these windows we call eyes we look out upon the heavens, spangled with millions of shimmering worlds, upon the earth with its mountains and valleys and mighty rivers flowing to the sea; upon forests whose waving treetops seem to brush the loitering clouds; upon fields with growing grain or grazing herds; upon the human form so graceful, and the human face so divine---and in all this we see God. We listen to the sounds which greet our ears, the voices which speak to us from near and far; deep-toned roar of ocean waves, the silvery splashes of running brooks, the songs of happy birds; the music of the human voice---to all the vibrations above us, beneath us, around us; and in all this we hear Him speak. In the odors we inhale Him; in the flowers we behold Him; and in everything we touch and handle we are confronted with the fact that our Father lives. So that, if we want to get away from His presence, we would have to become absolutely insensible to every sensation that comes to us.

But God reveals Himself through a second set of senses, which we will call mental and moral consciousness. The primary witness to God is in myself. It is my sense of personality. It is my free will. It is my conviction of the awful sacredness of right and duty. It is the appeal of conscience. It is the solemn, haunting feeling of responsibility. It is the yearning of my soul after holiness. It is the thrill of sacred emotion, which in my best moments is stirred within me by a voice sweeter and stronger than any voice of earth. This, this is God. The witness of the moral consciousness has always been accredited.

But there is a third set of senses through which this revelation comes. These we will call the spiritual senses. Coming to this point, the cry of the soul is no longer, 'Oh that I knew where I might find him!' but, 'I have found Him! I have found Him!' Very near unto God have we come. His hand has been laid in tenderness upon our head. He has told us of His love. 'Come unto me, and I will give you rest,' He said. And we came to Him with all our sins. The burden rolled off. The shackles were shattered. Out of bondage we came. We were free! The peace of God which passeth understanding was ours. So that while there are many speculative theories which we cannot understand, and many theological intricacies which we can not explain, yet, like the poor man upon whose blind eyes the Savior poured the light of day, we can say 'One thing I know.' There are many things I do not know. There are many things which, with my limitations, can not know. But, 'One thing I know; whereas I was blind, now I see.' I have a vision of God through the eyes of faith.

In Him; Tim