It’s not much of a picture, but then again, I am not much of a photographer. I tried to reproduce the panoramic view on my retina, but my efforts failed to do the scene justice. Frustrated, I clicked again, turned my phone sideways, backed up and tried a new angle. My storage was nearly full by the time I took thirteen pictures trying to capture the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains. A two- dimensional image never conveys the three-dimensional view. Second hand is never spectacular, especially when it comes to relationship.

I traveled three-thousand miles in the car with my parents this summer, which could be a reality show, but we won’t go there. Actually, driving the Blue Ridge Parkway and through the Smoky Mountains was a blast. When I looked out into the distance, I noticed the contour of the peaks, my dad noticed the vegetation and my mom noticed how the haze resembled smoke. Although we were looking at the same view, we each saw it differently, emphasizing a different aspect. God is always and forever the same, but we get different views of Him depending on our perspective.

Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” NKJV

A ROCK

Trouble has been following me around lately and I have known God as my refuge and strength. I did not know God as a rock, until I needed a rock. Occasionally, I am enamored with someone else’s relationship and walk with the Lord. Often, I hear about someone’s spectacular experience with God, and I realize I don’t know Him the way they do. Extreme acts of faith with miraculous results or unexplainable answered prayers elude me. I hear the details, but it seems two-dimensional. It is flat. Intuitively I know it is truly spectacular but if I am not personally experiencing it, it is only a second-hand relationship with God.

Exodus 33:11, “The Lord spoke with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks with his friend.” HCSB

FAITH LIKE MINE?

Someone recently said to me, “Well, I don’t have faith like you do.” Of course, you don’t have faith like me, you have faith like YOU. It is a personal relationship. I have been privileged to see some pretty amazing things. I have tried to capture the view for you, but it is my view. You are not supposed to have faith like me. You have to see it for yourself. A picture doesn’t do it justice.

2 Corinthians 4:13, “It is written: ‘I believed; therefore I have spoken.’ Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak.” NIV

DO YOU KNOW GOD?

Or do you simply know about Him?

When God Himself appears before the mind, awesome, vast and incomprehensible, then the mind sinks into silence and the heart cries out, “O Lord God!” There is the difference between knowing God by hearsay and knowing Him by acquaintance…” TOZER

Abraham was commended for his faith. I don’t have faith like Abraham. I don’t have faith like you. Although I am more like the father with the sick child, I do have a testimony to tell. So do you.

Mark 9:24, “Immediately, the father of the child cried out and said, ‘I believe: help my unbelief!'” ESV

Second hand is never spectacular, especially when it comes to relationship

You don’t have faith like me, you have faith like you.

Have you seen any spectacular views this summer?

Want to read more? Don't depend on social media; subscribe and get blog posts delivered right to your inbox.

Don't miss the next one!

SUBSCRIBE!

You have Successfully Subscribed!