We are found by God, as much as we ever find Him.
It’s the struggle, the dance, the tension of the push and pull and movement, that disheartens us and creates an insecurity that becomes a black hole, a place of death.
Then, God finds us. He sends angels, angels in the form of friends, voices, birds, bumper stickers and words, and he comes into the hole with us. George Herbert, in one of his most beautiful poems, suggests that He sits with us in that place. Then, after a short time, He rises, our hand in his, and welcomes us to leave the place of fear.
We rise with Him, or demand He stay. When we rise with Him, worship’s fragrance fills the space around us, between us, over us, under us.
We come to life, and worship is the new breath that fills our lungs.
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I think this is a perfect illustration of what N.T. Wright describes in Simply Christian. We find ourselves struggling in a world of insecurity and uncertainty, yet along the way we find “echoes” or, as you’ve put it, “angels” that point us back in the direction of God. As we experience more of God’s presence, worship for who He is overflows from and fills every part of our lives.
I agree with you Jessica. After reading N. T. Wright’s “Simply Christian” and in our discussions of the four “echoes” and nature of God in the Essentials Blue Course, Dan’s words are clearer to me now. The struggle, the tension of the push and pull is because of our living between heaven and earth. We are living in two worlds and sometimes we think God is far away from us, which can create insecurity and uncertainty.
When we begin to listen to the “echoes” of God’s voice through a friend’s word, through songs, poems and through nature, we realize that God is all around us. He “sits with us in that place.” He is with us and fills the hole in our heart. When God takes our hand we rise and worship Him. We dance a new dance, we sing a new song and celebrate the goodness of creation and rejoice in the new creation to come. “We come to life….and the new breath fills our lungs.”
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