Friday, December 28, 2007

Stuff I learned in 2007...

Maybe I should say this is something I "noticed" in 2007. As we read through the Bible as a family this year it seemed like one phrase kept jumping out- "Lord of Heavens Armies". Some older translations say "Lord God Almighty" but either way I did a bit of research and this particular phrase shows up nearly three hundred times in the Bible...far more than any mention of God as "Father".

So what does it mean to me? I think it means that I must remember to view God not only as my Father...but as "Commander in Chief" of the universe..."Commander in Chief" in the middle of a battle between his kingdom plan for Good and Satan's plan for chaos and pain. God as "Commander in Chief" is not always "nice", or "warm and fuzzy". He's got a plan and he will see it accomplished...no matter what! God as "Commander in Chief" will sometimes send us on "dangerous" missions...missions that may not be that personally pleasurable...missions we ourselves would definitely not choose... But because God is also our loving Father...we can trust him to have our best interests at heart. I'm definitely still working on this one...I realize more every year that God is just too "big" for any "box" or "explanation" I might give him...