God is in my present, past, and future

I've spent the last few posts sharing threads of God's story with Rahab and us. When I immersed myself in God's story with Rahab I found that I had so much in common with a prostitute from Jericho. She had a "now" she was living in, and as she heard stories about what God had done for others her heart opened towards a future that could be totally changed and connected to the God Who saves. 

That sounds really good, but I was rattled by her faith. She knew so little, yet she believed. In light of her faith on display, I had to ask: if we hear stories about what God has done for others, and we choose to believe what He did for others He can do for us--deep down, what are we really believing? What are we going on? Those stories can have religious language and even happy endings, but there is something more to them. There's a reality. Power. Something over, under, around, with, in, behind, ahead--making all this story, this living beyond, happen.

So the question becomes, Who are we really believing?

We see her faith rested on God, with a specific name she called upon. That name drew me in, beckoned me to go deeper. He plunged me into fresh waters with a single word: LORD.

In the Bible, your name meant your character. This name for God was a game-changer. God spoke it for the first time to Moses in Exodus 3:14. 

God said to Moses, "I AM THAT I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

Your Bible most likely has this name written in all caps. It is God’s name that was to convey to Moses and the people that He was a personal God with a personal name. He would be rescuing a people that were personally His with a personal purpose for Himself and them based on a personal promise He made with Abraham a long time before. The name He reveals to Moses is “'Ehyeh 'asher 'ehyeh” or I AM THAT I AM.

I love what it conveys, but those words grouped together seem nebulous. What does that mean? Scholars have a lot to say about it. Understanding His name may help us to see both the depth of this name and the weight of what Rahab believed when she called on this name. And the kind of God He would be for her. That goes for us too.   

While I am certainly not a scholar, I find the original languages of the Bible incredibly interesting. They have much more depth and breadth than modern English. What you see in our English translations is good, but there can often be more than what meets the eye. 

What we find about I AM THAT I AM is that the verb means is, was, and is coming all at the same time. God is God in the present, past, and future simultaneously.

This truth comes to life in Revelation 1:4, 8.

...Grace and peace to you from Him Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come, and from the seven spirits before His throne..."I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come, the Almighty."

I am convinced that the order of these words is more than just original verb tense. 

Who is
I believe that God puts His name in this order, with Who is first, because He wants us to know that He is a God Who is near and here. Right now. He is at the center of our reality. He is the source of all our reality. We can ignore, slight, or rebel against that, but it doesn't change the fact that every moment we are in, He is relevant and here. 

So we can’t put God only at creation and “Bible times” and then at Judgment and heaven. And we can’t push God until “later.” My heart cries out at how many of us, including myself, have tried to push God to “later,” not understanding it was Him in that moment refusing to be pushed and pursuing us in spite of our denial and rebellion!

Have you ever tried to ignore Him or push Him off? Have you tried to tell God you will deal with Him later? 

The encouragement is that we don’t only have to look back at time where we knew Him or didn't know Him, or look to a distant time when maybe we will get to know and experience Him. He is now, and we can have a real relationship with Him here.

Who was
I learned to love that He was in the past. Initially it was hard to imagine God being in times, places, situations, and relationships in the past because at the time I didn't want Him there, nor did I expect that He wanted to be there. And since there were parts of the past when I had carefully avoided Him by choice how could He be near me at those times? 

I have come to understand that the past was at one time the present, and God has never left me. He is near and He is here, so He was near and He was there. With this realization, I don't have to hide as though I can now cover what He shouldn't have seen. He saw my nakedness in all its forms (spirit, soul, and body) and tells me that there is no shame, because my past is covered by a Name He gave me faith to call upon as well--Jesus. We’ll explore those riches in steps further down our path.

Who is to come

He is also the One Who is to come. He is in the future. What about your future? Not just heaven, but tomorrow. God is already there. How does that make you feel? I wonder if that brings hope, fear, comfort, conviction, or an invitation to be totally changed and forever connected to a God Who saves.

Maybe you are like Rahab, and like me. Your ears and heart are hearing His name in its fullness. Thoughts and feelings may be emerging as you consider that He has always been in the present, past, and future. Don't be afraid to sort through those with Him. He is, was, and is to come. He is here with you, at the center of your reality. He has never left you and He desires to have you close so you can know Him more. In knowing Him personally He has more planned for you than staying where you are. There's more to His story with you.

LORD.  
What a name. What a God. What a game-changer.
That's Who we're believing.

And that's just a start.

Just another seed of my faith,
Ginny