Day 8
My View of God
May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you. [Psalm 33:22]
One of my favorite places in the world is the British Museum in London. There you’ll find the Rosetta Stone, the ancient Gates of Nineveh, Cleopatra’s jewelry… and something that looks like a classic old pirate’s map.
It’s an ancient mariner’s chart, drawn in 1525, outlining the east coast of North America. At that time most of the continent was unexplored — so the cartographer made some intriguing notes on areas of the map that were unknown: He wrote, in florid script, sayings like: “Here be giants!” “Here be fiery scorpions!” and “Here be dragons!”
Eventually the map came into the possession of Sir John Franklin, a British explorer from the late 1700s. He scratched out each of those fearful statements, and in their place wrote these words: “Here is God.”
That says it all. What lies in store for you along the “unexplored coastlines” of your life — and your death? Well, for you, that’s all unexplored country, and so it’s tempting to be afraid. Maybe you even stay awake at night imagining the worst about your future (“Here be dragons!”).
But you can scratch out the fears and write, “Here is God!” Here is the God of the Bible — the God identified as:
The Provider [Genesis 22:13–14]
The Mighty One [Psalm 91:1]
The Ever-Present One [Ezekiel 48:35]
My Shepherd [Psalm 23:1]
The One Who Sees [Genesis 16:13]
My Deliverer [Romans 11:26]
My Rock [Psalm 18]
Now, if you’re unsure about God’s character, you’ll be just as uneasy about Him as you are about the unknown future. But the more you know what the Bible teaches about God, the more confident you’ll be as you think, “Here is God!” That’s why this week we focus on the question, “Who is God?” As a hope exercise, read the descriptions in the list above every day this week, and each day add another biblical description of God to the list.
Question to Consider
If I mapped out my worries about the future, where would I write something like, “Here be dragons”? Do I generally feel confident or uneasy as I think about my future? How does my view of God impact this?
Prayer
Lord, help me to trust in You as my Rock even when I am unsure about what my future holds!
