Linda Bailey is currently in the Philippines leading a short-term mission trip.  For two weeks she will be sharing some of her favourite REAP posts.  Here is the REAP she has chosen for today...

Our God is so great that He is often hard to put into words

Zechariah 12.1-14  

Reference:  v.1  This is the word of the Lord concerning Israel.  The Lord, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of (people) within them, declares... (NIV Bible)

 Explore:  I love the descriptions of God.  If we were really honest we would have to say that the Lord is actually indescribable and incomprehensible to our human minds.  But I think it's nice to show our respect and awe by explaining elements of Him through our descriptions.  All throughout Scripture we read of people trying to put the majesty of God into words.  I think Isaiah 40 would have to be one of my favourite writings on the description of God.  It constantly looks at the things we judge ourselves on in this world and then goes on to say how God just goes over and above any person's capacity.  "Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket" (Isaiah 40.15); "He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers" (Isaiah 40.22); "He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name" (Isaiah 40.26b).
It's beautiful when these kinds of words are put into songs, but it's also great to hear new and current day descriptions of how great our God is.

Application:  I know that we can never sum up God in just one sentence, but sometimes people ask us to do so.  What would be your response?  Are you in tune with how awesome God is that you could express His wonder in just a few sentences?  In our world today we may not express ourselves like 'grasshoppers' compared to God, but we could say to a sports fan that 'God is stronger than the whole Premier football team put together'!  Maybe to a computer literate person we could say that 'God is more vast than the World Wide Web'!  And to a parent: 'The love God has for you is deeper than the love you have for your own children, even after they've looked into your eyes and said 'I love you'".  Our God is truly an awesome God.  We must never limit Him by our own understanding but we must also never forget to keep reminding ourselves of His wonder and majesty.

Prayer:  Lord, you are awesome.  May we express your greatness in every breath that we take.  Amen.