Beyond Wonderful!

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.

You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,

Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”

Even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day,

For darkness is as light to you.

(Psalm 139:1-12, NIV)

I have a lot of places on my bucket list.  I have no idea whether or not I’ll get to visit them.  I’d like to see the glaciers of Alaska along its coast.  I’d like to smell the rain forest in South America.  I’d like to see the sunset over the plain while sitting on Mount Kilimanjaro.  I’d love to see New Zealand in all its wild glory.  And I’m sure most of you have similar visions of places, events, or people that run through your mind.  It’s the wonder at seeing them - experiencing them first hand that draws us.  The sheer anticipation of being a witness to the vast world God signed his name to upon creating it just makes us giddy at times.

David may have had some wonderful sights in his mind when he penned the verses of this particular Psalm.  But I believe the biggest wonder he described was the immeasurable presence of God.  There is absolutely nothing outside of His knowing.  No person, idea, event, or “surprise” can escape God.  He knows it all instantly, fully, and perfectly … and he does so without any effort at all on His own part.  He even knows what might or could happen because He exists outside of the thing we call “time” and sees that as if sitting at the center of a circle while it all arcs around Him.  Yes, God’s knowledge is all-encompassing.

But God’s knowledge isn’t just at some ethereal level that is just “out there somewhere”.  His knowledge also focuses in on me like a laser.  He knows my every routine and quirk.  He is, as David notes, “familiar with all my ways.”  There is no place or situation so dark or desperate that God has somehow lost track of me and cannot find me.  I just cannot outrun or outfly Him.  And, even in knowing me this completely, He chooses to love and pursue me.

The Crooked Path will often wind through dark places.  It may be a deep valley where the sun cannot penetrate to the path.  It might be a dense copse of trees that blot out the sky.  It could even be an open area with cloud cover so thick you can almost feel it close in around you.  But I can rest in the promise David claims - God already knows about it and He is right there with me.  To me, that though is just beyond wonderful!

My Hand in His Hand

"But what do we mean when we talk of God helping us?  We man god putting into us a bit of Himself, so to speak.  He lends us a little of His reasoning powers and that is how we think: He puts a little of His love into us and that is how we love one another.  When you teach a child writing, you hold its hand while it forms the letters: that is, it forms the letters because you are forming them.  We love and reason because God loves and reasons and holds our hand while we do it."  (C.S. Lewis from Mere Christianity)


I love reading C.S. Lewis in small bites.  I have a book beside my bed with excerpts from his writings done in a daily reading style.  The pages are often strung together in themes from a certain book for several days, providing more insight on a given topic over the course of up to a week.  Other than The Chronicles and Screwtape, I've not read an entire work of Lewis and, given the depth of his thoughts, that may be a good thing right now.  I fear if I read some of these books clear through that my head would explode.  His simple portrayal of the human interaction with the Almighty as in the passage above just causes me to think so much ... and it drives my thoughts to the wonder of just how much God loves me.


The very idea that God is, even right now, holding my hand and guiding me - letting me grow in my own creativity of spirit within the enormous depth and breadth of what He has provided - is an awesome thought.  So much of what I'm learning of late makes this ring especially true.  I've seen friends suffer under teaching that would make God out to be some Cosmic Taskmaster who is just waiting to smack us down at every turn.  I've known those who think this earthly realm can be made perfect right here and now in terms of money, government, and all that goes with that.  At the same time, I've looked into the face of a widow who I didn't know that just lost a husband younger than I and I've seen the same God that Lewis talks about so often.  It absolutely amazes me over and over again that we can know this God and so many miss Him or make Him out to be something of their own design.


God wraps His hand around mine for a reason.  He does so out of His Love and His desire to reflect His glory through me and what I do.  The Crooked Path is a means to an end - an end where God stands ready to greet me with arms open wide.  Until then, I can rest in His strength and know He is happy to see me learn and grow under His direction and guidance.

Still More to Come ...

Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths. But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you. As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. (2 Timothy 4:2-7, NLT)

It's out there somewhere for each of us. I'm talking about the finish line. Paul seems to have clearly caught sight of his and he's encouraging Timothy to believe that his is still to come. And he's challenging his protege to think about what is still to come and take action. He's asking Timothy to be faithful with the Gospel, even though many people won't want to hear it the way Timothy is going to lay it out there. They're searching for something new - something now that will take their minds off what they see as drudgery. So Paul is telling his friend how to proceed, to understand that it isn't over yet for Timothy even though the Apostle is nearing death himself.

So how can we apply this ourselves, especially those who aren't "called to full-time, professional service"? Frankly, I'm challenged to see that old saw as an attempt to cloud the real issue at hand. Nobody is called into Christianity as a "vocation" ... we're drawn to it as an avocation! We don't serve out of some warped sense of duty and dread (at least we shouldn't). We embrace the fact that we are imperfect creatures who God loved so much that He provided Jesus to redeem us. Frankly, I'd like to capitalize the third word in the passage I cited so it reads, "Preach the Word of God" because that's one of the names used to describe Jesus. And in the context of what Timothy is challenged to do (as are we), I think it is most appropriate.

The finish line to the Crooked Path will come soon enough. It may be right around the corner for some. But I'd wager that, for most of us, there is significantly "more to come" and we need to embrace that. Much of it will be boring, some will be exciting, and some will be outright difficult. There are those who will experience far more than "their share" of the difficult times. To all, the exhortation from one who has neared the finish and sees the face of the One for whom he ran rings true ... "Work at it, spread the Gospel, expect difficulty and rejection. In the end, you will find it really wasn't anything at all compared to what God has in store when you cross your finish line."

Greenland Looks Bigger on a Flat Map

Then Job replied to the Lord: “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. You said, ‘Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.’ I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.” (Job 42:1-6, NLT)

Perception plays a big part in what we do and say.  If I perceive you are an open, honest person, I’m far more inclined to trust you than I am if you appear closed and aloof.  And, it has always been that way.  I don’t know if the signs were actually there, but our history books (at least the ones I had growing up) tell us that centuries ago, at the point where the Mediterranean Sea spills out into the vastness that is the Atlantic Ocean, maps showed warnings that advised, “Beyond this point, there be dragons.”

Speaking of maps, even modern ones present some challenges in terms of perception.  The island nation of Greenland (which, as you might know has little green about it), is located so far North that, when represented on a flat map, it looks almost the size of the North American continent.  I’d read that somewhere over the past month and, coupled with my previous thoughts about “I AM”, my thoughts of how we perceive things started spinning faster than most of the others.

All that drove me to Job, especially the end of his story.  I see the later chapters where God and Job are talking set up as if in a courtroom with the the wise old prosecutor pacing back and forth dealing out fact after fact that just nails the guy in the witness chair into silence.  In a way, that’s what God did and Job, having gained some valuable perspective, speaks what we read at the beginning of Chapter 42.  He has been personally humbled by the presence of “I AM” and now sees things with fresh eyes.

My journey along the Crooked Path could often use some perspective - especially the kind only God can bring.  If I, like Job, can humbly accept that kind of lesson, I will begin to see those around me in a different way.  And, seeing them as God sees them, I may find myself more accepting and compassionate about what they are going through on their own path.  Perspective - I don’t think I’ll look at a flat map again the same way.

Still Thinking About "I AM"

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
What is man that you are mindful of him,
And the son of man that you care for him?
(Psalm 8:2-4, ESV)

I have the great pleasure of living in a rural area where there is little man made light at night.  When it is very dark and clear, the skies light up in the most incredible way.  Frankly, we consider this "compensation" for my work requiring a commute of any distance or our church being a 40-mile round trip multiple times each week.  I think I understand a little more of what David saw when he looked into his own night sky thousands of years ago and contemplated the One who made it.  He probably started doing this as a shepherd on the hills outside of Bethlehem.  I'd bet lunch he did it when he was running from Saul.  I think a clear sky and a night of only natures' sounds can put anyone in this frame of mind.


The question being asked is one I find myself uttering quite often of late.  God has taken our family through a distinct period of learning opportunities and, it would appear, has given us a unique opportunity that we are taking.  Things surrounding this whole situation keep making me ask God, "Did you really drop this right into my lap?"  So, as I've considered again this week the weight of an "I AM" who is that personally interested and invested in me, it makes me just shake my head in awe and gratitude - kind of like the wonder I feel when I look at the sky while standing on my deck or in my yard.  The God who intentionally made that also wants a relationship with me, His creation.


As I travel the Crooked Path, I am reminded that I do not do so alone by any stretch.  The very God who spoke to Moses and said His name was "I AM" walks beside me, before me, behind me, and carries me.  I am a son of I AM ... and that is a very comforting thought.

The Weight of "I AM"

You don't have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe this? (John 11:25-26, The Message)

If I really were of a mind to make my brain hurt in a major way, I’d go beyond trying to read large portions of C.S. Lewis or Dallas Willard in single sittings and I’d contemplate the weight of the God of the Universe saying “I AM” to me.  I can somehow put things in an historical perspective when I read how He said that name to Moses.  I can begin to grasp when Jesus utters that phrase in all its wonder when they came for Him in the garden.  But when I turn those thoughts inward and try to connect the dots as to why that same God comes to me personally and says it in a thousand different ways, I feel like I want to run to the cabinet for at least four ibuprofen tablets.  Trying to say “it boggles the mind” just doesn’t quite explain it.

And yet, that is exactly what God does.  He comes to me … Mark Moore … in an intensely personal way and gently but clearly tells me over and over who He is.  He tells me to trust Him completely.  He tells me how much He loves me … so much that He faced down Death and won my very soul.  And He promises me that I am never alone.  That’s the very essence of Jesus message to Martha during the depth of her grief at losing her brother.

The Crooked Path can be an unsettling and sometimes frightening place.  In my travel, it is very comforting to note that, as my friend Camille Lewis said (her blog is on the main page), the sparrows in her planting area are watched over by God.  If the “I AM” takes His attention to that detail with one of the smallest creatures in the world, I’m pretty sure I can trust Him to get me through this life … and into the next one.

Empty ... Forever!

And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.  But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.  Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”  So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. (Matthew 25:5-8, ESV)

Three words - "He has risen" - one single word of joy in Greek.  This marked the beginning of change none of them could possibly fathom and yet would embrace with gladness.  The Crooked Path, having paused in reverence at the Cross, bursts forth in the boldness of a Risen Savior through the empty tomb ... empty forever assuring that Death has no hold on us again.