Column Post by Lakin Easterling
“Now unto him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us…” ~Ephesians 3:20
There is a whole lot about God I am in the process of learning. A lot of that comes from reading. I’m a reader, and I enjoy spending time doing so.
Naturally, reading the Bible is a way God chooses to speak to me. Other times, God uses everyday conversations to reveal things that confirm what I’ve been mulling over spiritually. And yet in other ways, He uses the quiet whispers that happen in gatherings of His followers, speaking to my heart as an individual in the midst of threading myself into His community.
I’m going to share thoughts in the next few posts that I’ve held onto for a while, partly because I wanted to seek them out, search them, and know them for myself first; then partly because I didn’t know if I could share them.
But this is a big catch with sharing the things God reveals to us individually: if we keep them, individually, what good will that do the collective group of believers? If we harbor all we learn and don’t let it sail out into the sea of surrounding brothers and sisters, we’ll have a hard time learning about the vastness of God’s love. Right?
And really, who better to share with, regarding the inner workings of a heart learning to be spiritually in tune with her Savior, than a collective group of women (and men) who are also trying to do the same?
So here I am, being open about this: God is mysterious. I mean, there are countless Bible verses that uphold this truth: His love surpasses knowledge (Eph. 3: 19), there are mysteries of Christ (Eph. 3:4), and mysteries of faith (1 Tim. 3:9), to name a few.
I think we need to acknowledge this characteristic of God; He obviously wants us to understand that He is more than we can understand, without the spirit of Christ. His spirit is at work within us, so that we can seek out these mysteries.
I’m not saying that this will allow us to understand everything about Him, but we have the power to explore them, and the faith to believe what we find, and to also trust that for what He doesn’t reveal He has an abundantly good reason.
What I am saying, sisters, is that mystery is a part of Christ. It is a good part. Maybe not safe, which may make us squirmy. God is not confined by our thoughts, but is boundless in His thoughts; He has hidden things for us to chase after, and the fullness of finding them out will be a blessing—an abundant, root-giving, deep-seeded, gloriously alive blessing—that we will not be able to contain. What we can’t contain, He will hold.
Step out in faith with me, sisters? Let’s go exploring.
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Lakin Easterling is a wife, mother, writer, and avid reader. She spends her days chasing her toddler, Belle, and conversing with the elderly who are afflicted by Alzheimer’s disease or Dementia. She loves surprise coffee dates with her husband Luke, texting novels to her best friend, Laura Hyers, and being a college student. She dreams about being brave enough to get a tattoo, and believes in the healing power of a good cup of coffee. Her favorite nail polish is Sail Away by Milani. She blogs at http://threadingsymphonies.wordpress.com.
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