Focus: The Vision of God

Text: Jb.42:5

"I have HEARD of thee by the hearing of the ear: BUT NOW mine eye SEETH thee."

Sometimes, God orchestrates mystery and allows certain miseries in our lives as means for us to have fresh encounters with him.

Everything that happened to Job was designed by God to deepen his relationship with himself.

God can do anything to make you grow in spirit and to deepen and heighten your knowledge of him. God is infinite mystery, and knowing him is a kind of endless journey. When it comes to knowing God, the law of diminishing returns never applies. No one ever arrives, for the journey of knowing God never ends. Paul was constantly pressing on to lay hold of the Lord who had laid hold of him. O, that I might know him!

Knowing God is in levels. Do you remember Pilate confessing Christ as king, and what was his response? Jesus says to him, "Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?" He asked the question because he would not settle for secondhand information. No one can go far spiritually by sheer hearsay, and nothing can substitute for a firsthand revelation of God. Isaiah exclaimed, "I saw the Lord." Peter said, "We were with him in the holy mount... We were witnesses of his majesty." Yes, they heard the voice and saw his glory - "that excellent glory."

Before the encounter, Job's faith was solely based on what he heard from others about God. But after the encounter, his story changed. He says, "But now I see you." From hearing about to seeing God for himself.

Eugene Peterson captures it well in his Translation, known as the Message Bible. Verses 5 and 6 says:

"I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand - from my own eyes and ears! I'm sorry - forgive me. I'll never do that again, I promise! I'll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor." Hallelujah!

I pray God to initiate you into his mystery and reveal himself to you beyond what you've known before. Lord, make yourself audible and visible to us! Amen.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter