My God is a storyteller. It's no mistake, then, that the Bible I read is mostly stories: Stories that make us laugh and cry, gasp and giggle. We read of kings and shepherds, prophets and prostitutes, warriors and widows. We see how God relates to people.
Take, for example, the story of Jesus and the woman at the well. (John 4) Instead of condemning or judging the woman, Jesus speaks to her. Here is a God who accepts me. Likewise, when Jesus sees the widow of Nain grieving over the body of her child, the story tells us that He "had compassion" for her. So, He raises her only son from the dead (Luke 7). Here is a God who understands my pain and is moved by my tears. My Bible's stories help me to understand my God.
It's not suprising, is it, that we learn about others by hearing their stories? We learn about families and failures, loves and losses. We gain friends because we are able to share our stories with others. In the same way, we grow closer to God through reading His stories.
Why is it, then, that when we hear God's stories, we want to explain them, not just experience them? We want to place them into theological structures: christology, soteriology, trinitarianism, ecclesiology, pneumotology. But our God doesn't want us to dissect his heart, He wants us to feel it.
Why not try it? Read God's stories. Experience His pain and ponder His passion. Hear His heart beat.
You will find that it beats in time with your own.
Take, for example, the story of Jesus and the woman at the well. (John 4) Instead of condemning or judging the woman, Jesus speaks to her. Here is a God who accepts me. Likewise, when Jesus sees the widow of Nain grieving over the body of her child, the story tells us that He "had compassion" for her. So, He raises her only son from the dead (Luke 7). Here is a God who understands my pain and is moved by my tears. My Bible's stories help me to understand my God.
It's not suprising, is it, that we learn about others by hearing their stories? We learn about families and failures, loves and losses. We gain friends because we are able to share our stories with others. In the same way, we grow closer to God through reading His stories.
Why is it, then, that when we hear God's stories, we want to explain them, not just experience them? We want to place them into theological structures: christology, soteriology, trinitarianism, ecclesiology, pneumotology. But our God doesn't want us to dissect his heart, He wants us to feel it.
Why not try it? Read God's stories. Experience His pain and ponder His passion. Hear His heart beat.
You will find that it beats in time with your own.
