Beyond Natural Eyes

There’s a song out by Hillsong United called “So Will I.” Maybe you’ve heard it. With over 14 million plays on YouTube and constant radio air time there’s a good chance you have. It’s the most lyrically rich “current” worship song I’ve heard in a good long while. The word crafting is thoughtful and expressive in a way that’s not the typical cliché of Christian worship music.

God of creation
There at the start
Before the beginning of time
With no point of reference
You spoke to the dark
And fleshed out the wonder of light

And as You speak
A hundred billion galaxies are born
In the vapor of Your breath the planets form
If the stars were made to worship so will I
I can see Your heart in everything You’ve made
Every burning star
A signal fire of grace
If creation sings Your praises so will I

God of Your promise
You don’t speak in vain
No syllable empty or void
For once You have spoken
All nature and science
Follow the sound of Your voice

And as You speak
A hundred billion creatures catch Your breath
Evolving in pursuit of what You said
If it all reveals Your nature so will I
I can see Your heart in everything You say
Every painted sky
A canvas of Your grace
If creation still obeys You so will I
So will I
So will I

 

If the stars were made to worship so will I
If the mountains bow in reverence so will I
If the oceans roar Your greatness so will I
For if everything exists to lift You high so will I
If the wind goes where You send it so will I
If the rocks cry out in silence so will I
If the sum of all our praises still falls shy
Then we’ll sing again a hundred billion times

 

God of salvation
You chased down my heart
Through all of my failure and pride
On a hill You created
The light of the world
Abandoned in darkness to die

And as You speak
A hundred billion failures disappear
Where You lost Your life so I could find it here
If You left the grave behind You so will I
I can see Your heart in everything You’ve done
Every part designed in a work of art called love
If You gladly chose surrender so will I
I can see Your heart
Eight billion different ways
Every precious one
A child You died to save
If You gave Your life to love them so will I

 

Like You would again a hundred billion times
But what measure could amount to Your desire
You’re the One who never leaves the one behind

This song causes me to feel God’s bigness to the point of total awe. It shifts my mind to a place that transcends my teeny tiny miniscule corner of the galaxy. Sometimes I wonder if God is just up there shouting at our steel walled minds and hearts, “If you only knew! If you could just see the WHOLE of it! The entire story! All of the life in existence that is seen and unseen by your eyes! Were you willing, your eyes would open to the greatness beyond the natural and you would understand…”

I wish I could see the world that exists beyond my natural eyes. And yes, I believe one does. I believe in the paranormal, the supernatural. But just the term paranormal often elicits negative emotion- fear and/or crazy usually being at the forefront. It simply means, though, happenings or phenomena beyond the scope of scientific understanding. And that pretty much sums up God and all the inexplicable things about life in general. Unfortunately, Hollywood has written a narrative about it that is very much… well, Hollywood. And by that I mean exaggerated and distorted.

So I often wonder what else is going on around me that I am unaware of.

Thoughts of the supernatural or otherworldly experiences are usually thrown into the category of mysticism and dismissed by most. They aren’t easily understood, don’t follow the normal laws of nature, and can’t be explained away by intellectual reasoning or “proven” science. They are too mysterious and open-ended to be comfortable. There are no lines that can be drawn around them or boxes to fit them into. And as sure as the sun rises, we LOVE our lines and boxes. We need things to make sense and be controllable and interpretable. And if they aren’t, well, then they can’t be real or true… right? I disagree.

If you believe God to be the Intelligent Designer of creation, then the fact that everything was created from nothing is, in and of itself, unfathomable to the human brain. We have zero point of reference for this. Have you ever tried to think about the length of eternity, or of God always “being”? It usually ends with your brain imploding. The concept of “forever” just doesn’t compute. There are no boxes or lines for it.

We think too small and see too little. The myriad of limits we impose on ourselves and the world around us shackles us to this simple dimension of life. How long has it taken humanity to discover and put names to all of what is currently accounted for and understood? How much more is out there? Well, we don’t know what we don’t know until we know it. We can’t see what we can’t see until we see it. We don’t understand what we don’t understand until we understand it. Just because something doesn’t make sense to us right now doesn’t mean it isn’t real or true right now, regardless of our belief in it. God isn’t constrained by our paltry parameters of knowledge.

I love that God is so much bigger than all of this and all of us.

There are about a bazillion more thoughts I could add to this post, but I’m going to keep it simple and end by encouraging you to take some time to meditate on the mysteries and inexplicable things. Let your mind wander into the infinite vastness of God. Spend some time in worship. Peruse scripture. There is so much more to all of this (and us) beyond our natural eyes.

Job 11:7-9

⁷ “Can you fathom the mysteries of God?
Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?
⁸ They are higher than the heavens above—what can you do?
They are deeper than the depths below—what can you know?
⁹ Their measure is longer than the earth
and wider than the sea.

Romans 11: 33-36

³³ Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
³⁴ “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”^[
35 “Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay them?”
³⁶ For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.

 

Peace & Love, Amy

(Other verses for pondering: Job 12:7-10, Psalm 19:1-6, Psalm 33, Psalm 95:1-7, John 1:1-5, John 14:10-14, Ephesians 6:10-12, Acts 2, Acts 3:1-10 & Acts 4:1-21, Hebrews 13:8)