Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?

John 14:9

Dear God, Rich Mullins once said, “I don’t read the Bible to know truth. I read the Bible to know God.” I agree in that there are too many little discrepancies in some of the stories (e.g. two creation stories) to feel like I’m getting a 100% accurate, detailed account of a situation. It’s a little like taking testimony from three different people who witnessed a car accident from three different cars. The details might be a little off. But in the Bible’s case, it’s your nature that at least comes through a little.

The trick is, how does anyone fully describe who you are? It’s kind of like a friend of mine yesterday trying to describe a dream to me. He could give me a little of it, but at one point he even said, “It’s hard to describe, but it’s in my head.” What’s there that’s indescribable is an essence that the dream had. The dream wasn’t just a story. It was a story wrapped up in emotion that combines to be an experience impossible to describe.

So what do I know about you given what the Bible tells me? Well, according to the Old Testament, for whatever reason, you played favorites. Setting aside that aspect of things, when it came the Israelites, you were much like a parent raising children. There were times of great fellowship. There was tough love. There was forgiveness. But one of the things we often fail to appreciate is the amount of time in which you do things. You work much slower than I think we expect you to now. That Jeremiah 29 verse that everyone likes to quote out of context and talks about you knowing the plans you had for them is really talking about a 70-year process. The people hearing Jeremiah’s words will be dead by then. Jeremiah will too for that matter.

Father, I’ve said this before, but we measure time in days, weeks, and months, but you measure it in years, decades, and centuries. In addition to the fatherly love and discipline you have for us as individuals and societies, you also work on a timeless plane that we often fail to appreciate. So while I might not know minute-by-minute truth from the Bible, I am grateful to have a document that helps me an entry point through which I can get to know you.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen