God is a Life-sustaining Scorching Fire

A few months ago I went to the Maldives with my wife for a week.  Needless to say, it was everything we could imagine; azure waters, amazing snorkeling and underwater life, palm trees swaying a few meters away from the shore and clear skies.  I never really saw anything like it and was so happy with the memories we made while there.

One event that was interesting was during our second day of the trip.  We decided to take a boat out to another local island and spend the day snorkeling and soaking up the sun.  It was a clear day and not too hot, allowing for a lot of fun playing in the water and relaxing. 

We lathered up sun-screen in order to keep our white, European skin from being burned.  We also went back a couple times throughout the day to reapply.  However, after snorkeling and enjoying the sun for several hours, we were unable to escape the power of the sun.  We didn't realize it at the time, but we were both significantly burnt by the end of the trip.  I did more snorkeling, so most of my backside was burned, along with my receding hairline.  My wife was more generally burned all over.  It was bad enough that we had to spend most of that evening and the next day inside or out of the sun because we didn't want to do any further damage to ourselves. 

I think this is so fascinating because the sun gives life to our planet.  It's rays warm the Earth, provides fuel for plants, allows for the water cycle and has many other life-giving usages.  Without the sun, no life could exist, and if the sun disappeared tomorrow, we would not be able to survive long.  Beyond that, the sun gives a lot of emotional life and health.  If my wife or I are out of the sun for too long, she can become sad and despondent.  Many people go through winter depression where the climate gets extremely cold because they are not getting enough sun.  The sun is absolutely essential to our life and happiness.

At the same time, the sun is so powerful that it can do damage to our bodies and cause at least temporary pain.  We loved being out in the sun, but there are consequences, like getting sunburned.  After the sunburn, we either begin to peel of our outer layers of skin, or become tan. 

I think this is a good illustration of our walk with God.  God gives us life and everything we need.  He breathed life into us, and in Him we move and have our being.  Like the sun, He gives us life and sustains life in us.  We are also redeemed by Jesus, who brings us into a right relationship with Him.  He gives us a desire for Him and for walking in His Light.  Similar to the sun, God makes us happy and gives us real joy.  Without Him our lives would be meaningless, and our lives find their true fulfillment in Him.

At the same time, God, like our sun-scorched skin in the Maldives, impacts, changes and even hurts us sometimes.  When God showed up in people's lives in the Bible, the would often fall down on their faces like they were dead.  God's glory is so powerful and penetrating that we would actually die if we beheld Him with our physical eyes.   When Peter saw Jesus and His miracle of Peter catching all the fish on the other side of the boat, he said, "Depart form me, for I am sinful man, O Lord."(Luke 5:8)  As we draw close to God, we see more and more how wonderful He is, and how unworthy we are. 

Being close to God also costs us something.  We need to submit ourselves to the discipline of the Lord.  There is no punishment for the Christian, but we do receive discipline from the Lord in order to grow us to become more like him.  Like the rays of the sun, as we get closer and want to be more near to the Lord, it will hurt us some.  We also need to discipline ourselves and say 'no' to the pleasures of sin in our lives, which does cost us something.  Jacob had a powerful experience with God, but he walked away with a limp, and so it is with us today. 

I would never trade my trip to the Maldives for having the comfort of sun-free skin.  How much more are we willing to behold the glory of God, no matter how much it changes or affects in the short term.  Let's look forward to the Day when we will have new bodies that can handle the beauty, majesty and glory of the Lord and we can see Him with unveiled faces!